Bloodflower
by Roshank Redemption
Summary: Remnant is a world without hope. For the first 15 years of her life, Ruby Rose was shielded from such a world. One day, however, the young girl is captured by a psychotic green haired Ghoul and exposed to unimaginable horrors during her captivity. Will Ruby break in the face of despair? Can she find happiness in a world without hope? Tune in to find out!
1. Prologue: Hope

**Bloodflower:** A flowering plant of the milkweed genus. Known for its beautiful red and orange color. However, when its leaves or stem are broken, a  poisonous milky sap is released that can cause severe injury. All I'm gonna say for now is that this flower has a connection to Ruby in some way.

 **Author's Note: ** I've got a ton of things to say, but I don't wanna ruin the prologue with my spiel, so I'm gonna throw a longer note at the end of the chapter. Be sure to check that out! Also, the cover pic for the story is AMAZING, I know! But I definitely did not make it, since my artistic skills are nonexistent xD. The guy who made it is **ghoul_edits** on instagram; just punch his name into google for a ton of awesome Tokyo Ghoul crossover stuff. I would leave a link, but fan fiction won't let me :(. Really, really recommend checking him out.

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the series depicted in this story, nor do I own any of the music. In fact, I own nothing xD.

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 **Prologue: Hope**

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Hope.

What, exactly, _is_ hope?

An emotion?

A desire?

A feeling? A wish for the future?

Or is it something else entirely?

Perhaps the nature of hope can be better understood by looking to the past.

In 19th century, the four kingdoms of Remnant faced a crisis of unfathomable magnitude. During this time, abominations known as _Ghouls_ ravaged the four kingdoms, spreading war across the land and increasing their numbers at an alarming rate. Try as they might, humanity was outmatched. Their war with the ghouls - if you could even call it a war, that is - cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, diminishing humanity to a shadow of what it once was.

The reason for the Ghouls' success was twofold. The first advantage Ghouls had over humans was in their superior regeneration and toughness. To begin with, ghouls could rarely be injured with conventional weapons such as swords, spears, and even guns. But worse still, Ghouls possessed incredible recuperative powers; even if a Ghoul was somehow wounded, they could simply regenerate any sort of non-fatal injury.

The second advantage Ghouls possessed was in their predatory organ known as the _Kagune_. The _Kagune_ \- formed from RC cells released by a Ghoul's Kakuhou - was sharper than steel, yet more flexible than rubber: the ultimate type of weapon against which humans were no match. Especially powerful Ghouls possessed what was known as a _Kakuja -_ a transformation of the Kagune in which the organ took over one's body, providing them with impenetrable armor and even greater strength.

The most horrifying aspect of Ghouls, however, was none of the above. Rather, it was the fact that they looked, talked, walked, and functioned exactly like humans, and yet the only food they could consume was HUMANS themselves. In order to survive, Ghouls were forced to eat humans, lest they die a slow, painful death from starvation. And so, for years Ghouls ravaged humanity, killing, eating, and feasting on their prey.

In the year 1890, however, everything changed. For the first time in decades, humanity felt hope as a family of Ghoul Hunters known as the Washuu clan created the CCG (Commission of the Counter Ghoul) and took the first step in what was a long, but hard fought, series of victories for humanity. Daikichi Washuu, head of the Washuu clan, was a brilliant commander and an incredible tactician.

Daikichi was succeed by his son, Yoshiu Washuu, who was a scientific genius and an incredible fighter. Yoshiu, in collaboration with Adam Schnee, created what is today known as the Quinque - a weapon forged from the remnants of a Ghoul's Kagune - which permanently turned the tide of war in humanity's favor. Slowly but surely, humanity struck back, killing thousands more Ghouls with each battle. Led by the CCG, man took back what was rightfully his own and punished the righteously punished monsters that had caused them so much pain. Now, finally, man had HOPE.

Or so the history books would have you believe.

A popular phrase among historians is, "History is written by the victors," and such a notion couldn't be any more true. In his victory, mankind portrayed Ghouls as heartless monsters who deserved the punishment they received, ignoring the countless innocent Ghoul Men, Women, and worst of all, Children that they slaughtered. Any Ghoul who tried to live peacefully was treated no differently than the Ghoul War Leaders who were the true criminals, and was slaughtered without a second thought.

Which begs the question ... who was the true monster in this war?

Today, Ghouls still exist, but are hunted and oppressed each day by the CCG, forced to live in the shadows with the exception of a select few. They lead lives of misery, devoid of hope or happiness, while the CCG continues to hunt and kill innocent Ghouls - the majority of their members either too corrupt or too afraid to fight the true criminals amongst Ghoulkind.

Worse still, the CCG has grown so powerful that it now controls much of the education system, building new academies each year, in which children are taught to hate Ghouls and continue the ever-worsening cycle of death and hate. It is, in short, a world full of evil and despair.

So then what, exactly, is hope? Well the truth is, it really doesn't matter.

Because whatever hope is …

 **IT DOES NOT EXIST IN THIS WORLD.**

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 **UPDATE ON KANEKI:** Since so many people are asking, I'm gonna say here that Kaneki is the SECOND MOST CHARACTER in this fanfic, but unfortunately he doesn't _really_ appear till chapter 16. From then on, he is an incredibly important character. I apologize for introducing him so late; I just wanted to make sure I developed Ruby's character enough before doing so.

 **Author's Note:**

Okay guys, prepare yourselves for an INSANELY long author's note. I don't wanna give away too much about this series, but there are a few points I wanna get across first.

First thing: If you have not read the Tokyo Ghoul MANGA, you'll probably be confused. You definitely don't have to read it if you don't want to, but you may have to look up some stuff. Let me know if you guys are confused and I'm happy to provide directions to various pages on Tokyo Ghoul lore. In fact, I suggest looking up the history of the Washuu Clan if you aren't already familiar with it (just google "Washuu Clan").

Next, this story is definitely not gonna be a full blown tragedy, but it's definitely gonna have some tragic elements. I WILL be killing major characters off, and while that clearly doesn't mean I'm gonna pull an Akame Ga Kill and just kill every important major character, there will be a few impactful deaths. And there will be some graphic content, as well as some torture scenes. I mean come on, it's Tokyo Ghoul so I gotta throw a few in there, right? I swear I'm not a sadist guys ... believe me? xD

Alright next, this is gonna be an alternate universe that's sort of a fusion between the worlds of Remnant and Tokyo. For starters, Dust and Aura do NOT, I repeat do NOT exist. The reason why is that I didn't want to over-complicate the story. With Ghouls and Quinques running around, as well as a ton of characters to manage, I'd rather not make the world over-complicated. So, no dust, no Aura, just ghouls, Quinques, and normal human abilities.

Additionally, team RWBY's weapons have been replaced with Quinque versions of their old weapons. All of their weapons are going to be called the same, and similar in concept, but with some minor changes and the fact that they're made from Ghouls' Kagune.

Also on that note, the world in general is going to be VERY Tokyo Ghoul centric. It's called Remnant, but the history of this world very much resembles that of Tokyo Ghoul, as you saw in that prologue there with the Washuus and all. However, the characters are going to be VERY RWBY centric. It's a story about how the characters of RWBY cope with a world full of Ghouls, Ghoul Investigators, and a ton of very sickening & f*cked up things.

Next, unfortunately I am going to have to cut some characters out for this fan fiction. For instance, Touka is not in here. Really sorry about that guys; I just already have four really prominent female protagonists in team RWBY, so I had trouble finding a place for her. Other characters might play a more minor role, like for instance I'm not sure how much Hinami will be doing. If you guys really want me to include a character that I've cut out, though, I am open to suggestions.

One more thing: team RWBY might seem a little more ... powerful? than in the actual series. Ruby, especially, is very strong and considered a prodigy. Weiss is as well, and her interactions with Ruby are going to form the basis for this story, to some extent. Also, there are going to be a lot of parallels between Arima and both Ruby and Weiss. It's brought up time and time again that they're the future of the CCG. This won't make sense now but it will once you read the next few chapters.

Blake ... well the situation with her is similar, but I'm not gonna go into detail because I don't wanna spoil you guys. I'll be honest and say that I don't have a solidified place for Yang yet, and I haven't mapped out her character, but she will also be pretty strong.

Kaneki WILL be in this fanfic. He just ... might not appear until much later. As in, not in the first arc at all potentially, but he WILL be a major character mark my words.

Oh and with regards to TIMELINE; this takes place after Kaneki has been tortured by Jason and received his white hair. Specifically, Kaneki was tortured and left Anteiku on December 19th, and the story starts at the beginning of Beacon's spring semester, so about a month or a month and a half after Kaneki left Anteiku. Additionally, I will be following the events of the manga, so Kaneki will NOT be joining Aogiri Tree, and instead will be forming his own group along with Shuu, Banjou, etc.

Otherwise, I think that's about it! So be sure to review, favorite, follow, etc. if you enjoyed, and let me know what you think I can improve on! I am definitely open to changing minor elements of the story, if you guys would like me to.

Thanks for tuning in and have an awesome day!


	2. Chapter 1: IXA

**TIMELINE NOTE:** The beginning of this story takes place about 1.5-2 months after Kaneki was tortured by Jason (so around February 19th).

 **Time Break: ... ... ... ... ... ...  
** **Bold text: GHOUL VOICE  
** _Italics: INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves; also used occasionally for EMPHASIS_

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the series depicted in this story, nor any of the characters, etc. In fact, I own nothing xD.

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 **Chapter 1: IXA**

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A woman walked, slowly and painfully, towards the edge of a cliff. Her hair, which reached down to her shoulder blades, was a distinct red and black color that perfectly matched the colors of her clothes.

Looking at her figure, she would appear at first to be in her late twenties or early thirties, but her eyes told a different story. For although she was physically in her twenties, the experiences this woman had endured were more than any person ought to in an entire lifetime.

As she walked towards the edge, three tombstones came into view. Her hood flapped in the howling wind, which would have thrown any normal person off balance, but she moved with a grace far beyond that of any human, and greater even than the strongest of Ghouls.

A few feet in front of the tombstones, the figure stopped. A single tear fell down her cheek.

"Oh, how I wish you all were still alive," Ruby said to herself.

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 **? Years Earlier**

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Professor Port rolled his eyes. _That damned girl,_ he thought to himself. _I swear she's asleep more hours of the day than she's actually awake._

The short, burly man cleared his throat and said aloud, "Care to share your thoughts, Miss Rose?"

The entire class turned to Ruby, who was completely knocked out with her head on top of her desk.

Professor Port could've sworn that her snoring increased the moment he called her name. Sighing, he walked up to her seat and firmly rapped on the table next to her.

"AGH!" Ruby awoke with a start. And if that wasn't a surprise enough already, Professor Port was literally right in her face, causing her to fall backwards in her chair and hit her head against the hard wood behind her.

"OW!" she exclaimed, eyes watering slightly. The entire class burst out into laughter (with the exception, of course, of Weiss, who just put her hands on her hips and turned her head away from her partner).

Ruby blushed a deep red.

"Well, I hope you're awake now, Miss Rose," said the Professor.

Walking back to the center of the class, he continued his lecture, which of course Ruby completely ignored, partly because her head hurt, but mostly because she never paid attention to most lectures anyways.

Yang grinned at her younger sister. "That was HILARIOUS Ruby! You really need to fall asleep in class more often," she teased.

Before Ruby could respond, Weiss interjected, "It's NOT funny Yang. Ruby, you really need to stop sleeping so much in class and focus a little more on your schoolwork. You need to get good grades if you want to graduate Beacon on time, you know!"

Yang smirked. "Well Ice Queen, last time I checked she was doing pretty well. Did better than you on the first test if I remember correctly."

Now it was Weiss' turn to blush. "W-well … I … my point STILL stands Yang. Ruby needs to focus if she wants to do better in school!"

"Will you give it a rest already, I'm trying to read over here," said Blake, not looking up from her book.

Weiss rolled her eyes, while Ruby and Yang snickered to themselves at their white - haired friends' reaction. Yang considered making another snarky comment, but elected not to, since Ruby had already caused enough commotion for one lecture.

The rest of the lecture went without incident; Ruby nearly fell asleep again on multiple occasions, but fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) she was sitting next to Weiss, who ensured that she stayed awake by jabbing her in the side each time she began to fall asleep.

The entire time, Yang struggled to keep herself from bursting out in a fit of laughter. The relationship those two had was just too funny.

Eyeing his watch, Professor Port sighed said aloud, "Alright, well I think that's enough material for one day everyone-"

Many students took their bags and got up to leave.

Clearing his throat, Port continued, "However, before you leave I have an important announcement regarding the CCG."

Everyone in the classroom, including Ruby, froze. Port's eyes gleamed as he spoke: "Tomorrow we have the honor of hosting a Special Class investigator and one of his subordinate officers at Beacon. They will be giving a talk about life in the CCG, about Ghouls, and other things of that nature. As always, it's not a mandatory event, but I highly recommend that you all attend. Class dismissed."

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Ruby yawned loudly as she got up from her nap. "Man, I slept well!" she said. Then again, when did she NOT sleep well?

Sliding down from her bunk, Ruby went about her normal morning ritual, brushing her teeth, playing her music, and otherwise getting ready for the day ahead of her. She was interrupted, however, by a call from Weiss on her Scroll.

The instant Ruby picked up, she immediately received an earful from her partner.

"RUBY!" she yelled. "Where the ARE you?! It's 6:00 already!"

Ruby gave her a confused look. She knew that Weiss disapproved of her taking naps in the middle of the day, but this wasn't any different from usual. "Sorry," she said to her partner. "I'll come over the second I get ready, I promise! Where are you guys right now?"

A look of shock appeared on Weiss' face. "What do mean where are we?! We're at the ampitheatre! Don't tell me you aren't coming to the CCG lecture today?!"

Ruby froze and dropped her toothbrush mid motion. "Oh no, I completely forgot!" she exclaimed.

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Ruby doubled over, panting from exhaustion. The second Weiss called her, she ran as fast as she could over to the ampitheatre, and as luck would have it, they were having some technical difficulties so the talk hadn't started yet.

"Well I'm glad to see even a troublemaker like yourself was able to make it to this one, Ruby," Weiss said, grinning ear to ear.

"Are you … SMILING, Weiss?" asked Yang incredulously.

Weiss smile lessened somewhat. "Yes, yes I am. Is it so strange for someone to smile?"

Yang grinned. "Well hell yeah it is! I had no IDEA you had the capacity for happiness!" Yang smacked her teammate on the back, causing her to nearly double over in pain. Wrapping her right arm around Weiss, Yang said, "You know, maybe you aren't quite as stuck up as I initially thought you were," she said.

Weiss pouted and turned her head away from Yang, but even still she couldn't hide her excitement at what was about to come.

"Thank you for your patience, everyone," came a familiar voice. Ruby stood on her tiptoes so that she could better see the podium and saw none other than Headmaster Ozpin speaking into the microphone. "Would you please join me in welcoming Special Class Investigator Yukinori Shinohara and his partner Rank 3 Juuzou Suzuya!"

A roar of applause echoed through the ampitheatre. Ruby watched imposing figure walked up on stage. "Thank you, Special Class Ozpin," he said.

Ozpin adjusted his glasses, mildly annoyed. "FORMER Special Class, Investigator Shinohara. I'm nothing more than a simply schoolteacher these days, I'm afraid."

Shinohara laughed good-naturedly. Scratching his head, he replied, "I find that very difficult to believe coming from one of the strongest investigators of the previous generation."

Ruby's eyes widened at their conversation. "Ozpin used to be an investigator?" she whispered.

"Obviously!" exclaimed Weiss, who was desperately trying to maintain her usual stuck up and annoyed demeanor but couldn't help a small smile on her face. "Haven't you heard about his famous raids of the 24th ward before?"

Ruby's mouth dropped open. The 24th ward was notorious for being incredibly dangerous and riddled with Ghouls to the point where Ghouls are forced to _eat_ one another, due of the lack of humans.

The large man at the podium then began speaking, telling them about various past encounters he'd had with ghouls. The most riveting story was an encounter with the legendary One Eyed Owl, who according to Weiss was a SSS rated ghoul. Shinohara recalled how his team of investigators was helpless against the ghouls, until a young investigator named Kishou Arima had single handedly defeated the Owl.

"Wow," Ruby said aloud. Weiss' smile widened, if that was even possible. "You see, THIS is why the CCG is the best," she said.

Yang whistled. "You seem pretty set on joining the CCG there, Ice Queen. You sure killing Ghouls is the type of thing you wanna do?" she asked.

Weiss hesitated. While it was true that the school they attended (Beacon Academy for Ghoul Investigators) was funded by the CCG, most graduates didn't actually enter the CCG, but instead went into the medical field, the police force, and other things of that nature.

However, given her stature as daughter of the CEO of the Schnee Quinque company, Weiss was expected to become an investigator. So, she responded in kind.

"Of course!" she exclaimed. "I'd like nothing more than to personally wipe out every-"

Weiss stopped suddenly as she was interrupted mid-sentence by the sound of a book being slammed shut. All at once, Ruby, Weiss, and Yang looked over at their Bookworm teammate and were shocked to see a look of hatred in her eyes, directed at the investigator on stage.

"B-Blake?" Ruby asked. "A-are you alright?"

Ruby nearly cringed as she asked the question. Blake looked more upset than any of the three of them had seen before, which was saying something given how calm she usually was.

"I'm leaving," she said bluntly.

"Eh?! You can't leave Blake! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! If we stick around long enough, we might even get to talk to-"

Blake stared at Weiss with such hatred that she once again stopped mid-sentence. Then, turning her back to the stage, she walked off and headed back to their room.

"Sheesh, what's her problem?" Yang asked. Weiss shrugged.

At the time Ruby didn't know why, but she had a distinctly bad feeling about what had just happened.

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After Shinohara finished speaking, he began taking individual questions, which inevitably resulted in a long line of people waiting to speak with him. Weiss, being the Ice Queen that she was, insisted that they get in the very BACK of the line so as to ensure they would get as much time with him as they wanted. However, they weren't the only people with this idea, as two of their friends - Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos - also decided to wait at the back with them. At the present moment, Jaune and Weiss were having an argument about who was actually at the back of the line.

"I OBVIOUSLY got here after you Weiss, so you're definitely ahead of me!"

"What are you talking about, Vomit Boy!" she yelled back, causing Jaune's face to redden in anger. Yang snickered and even Pyrrha couldn't help a small chuckle. "We got here AFTER you. I'm trying to be polite by letting you go ahead of me. So why don't you just take a HINT and do it alrea-"

Weiss was interrupted the sound of a man clearing his throat.

"Hold on a sec, can't you see-" Weiss stopped midsentence and a look of horror enveloped her face as she realized that Shinohara was the one who had cleared his throat.

Yang walked up to Weiss and smacked her on the back again. "Hey would you look at that. I guess we're up now, eh Ice Queen?"

Weiss began sweating profusely and bowed her head in a sign of respect. "I-I'm so sorry Investigator Shinohara. I didn't realize it was you so I apologize I lashed out like that."

Beside the man, a strange looking boy with white hair and odd red body markings eyed her curiously. _What the heck is this nutjob's problem?_ she thought to herself.

As if he'd read her mind, Shinohara gave her a warm smile and said, "Don't mind my friend here, he's just a little curious about what college students are like. Weiss, I'd like you to meet my subordinate, Investigator Juuzou Suzuya."

Juuzou held out his hand. Weiss eyed it for a second and then gingerly shook it. _I have to remember to was my hands with anti-bacterial soap ASAP once I get back!_

Weiss opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself as Shinohara placed a hand underneath his chin, evidently in deep thought. "You know, your face seems kinda familiar. I can't quite put my finger on it, but … hmmm …"

Weiss could barely contain her excitement. _He must recognize me because of Dad! Perfect! I can definitely use this to my advantage ..._

Snapping his fingers, Shinohara continued, "I've got it!"

Grabbing Juuzou and Weiss, he lined them up side by side and eyed the pair with a content look. "That's it! The reason your face felt familiar is because you look EXACTLY like Juuzou!"

A look of horror spread across Weiss' face as Shinohara let out a hearty laugh. "I mean seriously, just look at you two! Both have white hair, similar height, dress sorta strangely … the similarities are so uncanny, I would've thought the two of you were twins at first glance!"

Yang's jaw nearly dropped. "They literally look nothing alike," she whispered to her sister. Ruby giggled as Weiss' face turned redder than a ripened tomato.

"U-um … t-thanks, Investigator Shinohara. I-I just wanted thank you for the amazing talk and say that we appreciate the service you're doing for all of Remnant."

With that, Weiss turned and began walking away from the Special Class, frustrated that she had embarrassed and made a fool of herself in front of such a high ranking official. Ruby and Yang began to follow her, but then ...

"Wait," Shinohara said, tone growing serious. Weiss stopped and turned her head back towards him. Pointing to the weapon at her side, he said, "That Qunique … did you make that yourself?"

Weiss' eyes lit up at his question. Pulling out Myrtenaster, she said, "Well ... sort of. Technically my father helped me with it, but I ended up having to do most of the work myself. Just because the idea I had in mind for myrtenaster wasn't exactly the most … _stable_ thing in the world, so my dad ended up refusing to help me finish crafting it. It's far from perfect, but forging it myself is my proudest achievement," she said with a smile.

Shinohara grinned. "Oh, is that so? Well in that case, how would like to show that off for me in a spar against Juuzou?"

Weiss nearly doubled over at his suggestion. _Me … fighting against a Ghoul Investigator, already?_ Her breath quickened in anticipation.

Yang stepped forward and smacked her on the back for the third time that day. "You sure as hell better believe she'd love to!" her teammate answered for her.

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Beads of sweat fell across Weiss' face as she eyed the white haired boy before her. Raw nerves clutched at her stomach, threatening to overwhelm her. Weiss had always felt the need to impress people growing up, since her father had such high expectations for her, but something about this situation was … _different_ , from before.

Nonetheless, this was her chance. Her chance to show off her skills to a top officer in the CCG and continue the long tradition of Ghoul investigators that her ancestor had started long ago. Juuzou cocked his head and smiled curiously at her, as she did her best to ignore his strange mannerisms.

"Go ahead and make the first move whenever you're ready, Weiss," Shinohara said to her.

Nodding, Weiss brandished her weapon. Juuzou responded by simply shrugging his shoulders and picking his nose nonchalantly.

 _Oh you're in for it now!_ Weiss exclaimed.

At a speed faster than any normal human could move, Weiss rush towards her opponent, slashing at his chest with Myrtenaster's unreleased form. Truth be told, she didn't actually think her blow would land, since she was fighting a full-fledged Ghoul investigator, after all. For him to dodge or even block the attack, while disappointing, wouldn't have been much of a surprise.

The thing is, Juuzou didn't block the attack. Or rather, he didn't _just_ block it.

Pulling two small knives from out of nowehere, Juuzou blocked Myrtenaster with one of them, then used the second to twist the weapon out of Weiss' hands, disarming her. In a matter of milliseconds, Weiss found herself on the ground with a knife pointed at her throat.

 _Darn it! s_ he said to herself.

Stepping back, Juuzou retrieved her Quinque and handed it back to her. Weiss was about to thank Juuzou for the spar, when Shinohara said, "Again."

The two combatants turned towards him in surprise. "Again," he repeated. "I have a feeling that wasn't your full strength, Miss _Schnee_." He had a serious look on his face.

Weiss' eyes lit up. "Of course sir! I promise I won't disappoint this time."

Unfortunately, however, Weiss did just that, and was once again disarmed and defeated within second of the fight's start.

She slammed her fist on the ground in frustration, scowling. _Am I really this outclassed?_ she thought to herself. _Is our difference in strength really this much? Will I ever have any hope of becoming a successful investigator?_

"This is pointless," she said to Shinohara, a hint of anger creeping into her voice. "There's no way I'd ever be able to take on a Ghoul Investigator, not in a million years."

"No," Shinohara said bluntly. "No, you're wrong. In fact, you couldn't be any more wrong. I'll agree that in terms of combat skills you've got a lot to learn, but that's not the reason why you're losing so easily, Weiss. The reason you're losing is that you're not fighting Juuzou with the intention to actually injure him."

Weiss' eyes widened slightly. "Injure him?! Why would I want to do that! We're … allies, aren't we?"

Shinohara sighed, the sigh of a man who had experienced and witnessed many things in his lifetime. "That sort of attitude is going to get you killed as an investigator, Weiss. Ultimately, the only way we may better ourselves is through training, and if you don't have the same attitude while training that you would in a real battle, then it's pointless. So this time, I want you to fight Juuzou with everything you've got and the intention to _take him out_."

Weiss nodded. _So that's how it is, then ..._

Looking at her Quinque, she said aloud, "First offensive mode." Shinohara and Juuzou watched in amazement as her Quinque transformed into a sharpened fusion of a spear and a sword, while Ruby, Yang, and Jaune grinned in anticipation. Even Pyrrha couldn't help a small smile.

"That weirdo's in for it now!" yelled Yang. "Take his head off Weiss!"

Ignoring her teammate's comments, Weiss charged at Juuzou and stabbed at his stomach. Juuzou blocked the attack with his knives, then moved to once again disarm Weiss, but to his shock she had already recovered and was preparing for a second blow.

With a yell, she struck a fencing pose cut and slashed at Juuzou, putting him on the defensive with her onslaught of attacks.

Shinohara raised an eyebrow. _She's a little TOO focused on technique, and her combat skills could use some work. But I have to admit, she's not half bad._

Unfortunately, however, Weiss soon began running out of energy and Juuzou slowly began to take back control of their battle. Any attack Weiss sent at him was instantly blocked and deflected by one of his knives.

 _The timing of his moves are incredible,_ Weiss thought to herself. _To be able to block Myrtenaster with such small weapons … what sort of freak is this guy?_

Then, as if on cue, Juuzou feinted to the right and stabbed at Weiss with the knife in his left hand. Juuzou's intention wasn't to actually stab his opponent, but rather to disorient her so that he could more easily disarm her and end the fight.

Unfortunately for the both of them, however, the heiress twisted to the side at the last second in an attempt to bring her weapon over and block the strike, causing Juuzou's knife to pierce the side of her body.

Weiss shrieked in pain as she jumped backwards, hand clutching her side. She could feel blood flowing from the wound and while it was nothing that would kill her, it still hurt like hell.

Juuzou's eyes widened in dismay as he saw the damage he had inflicted on his opponent. Stepping forward, Shinohara exclaimed, "Weiss, are you-"

Weiss held up a hand. "I'm fine," she lied. The wound hurt and normally she'd probably be moaning and complaining about it, but in the presence of a Special Class Investigator she needed to maintain her appearance.

Standing up, Weiss steadied herself and looked at her opponent. "Well would ya look at that, Ice Queen's actually got some backbone," Yang remarked.

"YOU CAN DO IT, WEISS!" Ruby yelled, shaking with excitement.

 _I really didn't wanna do this,_ Weiss said to herself, _but at this point it's all or nothing. This is my last chance to impress Investigator Shinohara, so it's now or never!_

Holding out her hand, Weiss turned her blade upside down and pointed it at the ground. "Myrtenaster, Second Offensive Mode!"

Ruby and Yang gasped simultaneously, while Jaune and Pyrrha looked on in shock. "SECOND offensive mode? She has a second offensive mode? Since when did she have something like that?" gaped Jaune.

"No idea," quipped Yang. "She never showed us anything but her first offensive mode. Although I suppose it makes sense now why she calls it _first_ offensive mode as opposed to just offensive mode," she said, smirking. Jaune rolled her eyes at the blonde's response.

Everyone watched intently as Weiss released her weapon's second form. Seconds passed, but nothing was happening. Shinohara frowned, _Was she … bluffing?_

"Weiss, if you have some sort of trick up your sleeve, then by all means please show it to us," Shinohara said.

Weiss smiled somewhat condescendingly. "Oh but I already have, investigator."

She pointed at the ground below Juuzou. Both investigators' eyes widened as they beheld a snow-blue colored glyph on the ground below Juuzou.

As quickly as he could, Juuzou moved out of the glyph's radius - and not a second too soon, for the moment he escaped a massive pillar of ice-like Quinque Crystal shot out from the ground beneath the glyph. Had he moved a second later, the pillar would have skewered him instantaneously.

Shinohara simply looked on in shock. _That Quinque, I've … I've seen it before!_

Almost as soon as he had dodged, another glyph appeared underneath Juuzou, forcing the youth to jump out of harm's way once again as another massive pillar of ice emerged from the ground. Weiss summoned forth yet another glyph, then another, and another, destroying the sparing grounds with the sheer power of her Quinque.

Shinohara was impressed, to say the least. _Her combat skills are … average, perhaps even below average at best, but I'm impressed by that Quinque of hers. It's no lower than an S rated Quinque and could be even stronger if she worked on it a little more. If only I, or Arima, or another Special Class investigator could train her directly … then in a few years she could be one of our strongest soldiers._

Weiss smiled as the tide of the battle began to turn in her favor. _I've got him now. No matter how quick he is there's no way he'd be able to dodge all of these. It was fun while it lasted, investigator Juu-_

The heiress recoiled violently as her weapon suddenly shattered. Gasping from the shock and impact, Weiss fell to her knees and looked in dismay at the remnants of her weapon.

The entire blade was completely shattered, and while the Quinque's base still remained, her weapon was useless. _It must have shattered due to the stress I was putting on it ... Darn it, I shouldn't have used its second form for so long!_

A wave of frustration shot through her. The amount of time she had spent making her weapon, caring for it, using it in battle … and now it was _gone_!

Weiss felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Shinohara behind her. "I think that's enough for today, Weiss."

Weiss looked at him in dismay. Shinohara held out his arm and asked, "May I?"

Weiss nodded and handed her Quinque to him. Shinohara was relieved to see that while the Quinque was damaged beyond repair, the base was still intact, meaning Weiss could most definitely rebuild it at some point.

He handed the weapon back to her. "Weiss, this Quinque … I thought it seemed familiar at first and now I think I know why. It's because you modeled it after-"

"IXA," she said. "Yeah … I modeled it after IXA. Or at least, I tried to."

"The hell is IXA?" asked Yang, walking up to the pair. "Also, where did Ruby go?" she asked, looking around.

Jaune pointed past the burly Special Class investigator and Yang grinned as she saw her sister talking with Shinohara's white-haired partner. At the moment Juuzou was showing her a giant Scythe that he had seemingly procured from nowhere, which Ruby was staring at with starry eyes.

 _I swear I'll never understand that girl,_ Weiss said to herself, rolling her eyes. Turning to her teammate, she said, "A few years ago, a Special Class Investigator named Kishou Arima visited my father to improve one of his Quinques, called IXA. Normally father wouldn't let me interfere in business related matters, but since he needed an extra hand, he asked me to help out."

"I'm not really sure how to explain it … but when he demonstrated the abilities of his Quinque it was almost _beautiful_. I knew right then and there, that if I were to ever make a Quinque, it would be exactly like IXA. But I guess I ended up failing, since it's nowhere near as strong or stable."

"Don't sound so disappointed Weiss!" Shinohara responded. "Arima isn't known as the CCG's Reaper without good reason. He's gone toe-to-toe with SS and SSS rated ghouls countless times and prevailed countless times, even in the most dire of situations. Take it from someone who's been on missions with the guy before …"

Shinohara paused. Now, after seeing Weiss in combat, he had to make a choice. But the question was, did he really want to-

"OH-MY-GOSH!"

Shinohara flinched as a small mass of red and black appeared before him. Weiss and Jaune's jaws dropped as Ruby teleported in front of the Special Class Investigator's face, her eyes sparkling.

"PLEASE tell us more about some of your missions with Investigator Arima, Mr. Shinohara! They sound so cool! What sort of Ghouls did you fight?! And what sort of weapons did you use?! Juuzou showed me his Scythe, do you use one too?!"

The small girl eyed him expectantly, the same way a baby bird looks at its mother for food. Shinohara awkwardly put a hand behind his head and said, "Um … sure. I guess I could show you my weapon. Or …" and at this his face grew serious once again.

"You could fight me and see it up close!"

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 **Author's Note:**

A quick note: the inspiration for Weiss' Quinque was IXA, Arima's Quinque. I specifically modeled it after the anime portrayal, just because I thought it looked cool. If you wanna see it in action, search Arima vs Owl on Youtube, and click the first result. The black weapon that causes these crazy black tentacles to come out of the ground is the inspiration for Myrtenaster's redesign, except obviously Myrtenaster is ice-blue themed.

Also, one thing specifically that I've been concerned about is the pacing of the story ... I feel like it might be a little slow, so I'll try my best to pick things up from here! Let me know your thoughts on that, if you get a chance :).

Otherwise, have an awesome day guys and I'll see you in the next chapter! :D


	3. Chapter 2: Jaune's Potential

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the short chapter. I actually had this and chapter 3 together as one chapter initially, but after thinking about it I would rather update more regularly with short chapters than just release a single really long chapter once in a blue moon. But if you guys would prefer longer chapters let me know and I am happy to do so!

Oh and also, I'm gonna start responding to reviews. See the end of the chapter for my responses! :D

 **Time Break: ... ... ... ... ... ...  
** **Bold text: GHOUL VOICE  
** _Italics: INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves; also used occasionally for EMPHASIS_

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the series depicted in this story, nor any of the characters, etc. In fact, I own nothing xD.

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 **October 17th. 5 Months Before Present Time.**

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"HYAAAAAAA!"

A black haired boy screamed as he ran scrambled a construction site, running for his life. His escape attempt was, however, short-lived, as a red tentacle grabbed his leg, tripping him.

"Got you!" said a purple haired woman, a sadistic smile on her face. The girl was incredibly beautiful … but at the moment, Kaneki was more pre-occupied with the fact that she was trying to eat him.

" **Kaneki … this must be the first Kagune you've ever seen?** "

Rize laughed. "Don't worry, I'll be gentle when I scramble your insides," she said, licking her lips. Terrified, Kaneki screamed again, and stabbed at Rize's Kagune with a pencil. Obviously, it didn't actually do anything to hurt her, but it distract the ghoul long enough to allow Kaneki to break free.

That is, break free for about 3 seconds, before Rize stabbed her Kagune through Kaneki's stomach.

The black-haired boy gasped in pain as the tentacle broke through his midsection. " **Oh my, did you die?** " asked Rize cheerfuly. Adjusting her glasses, she continued, " **I love humans with body types like yours, Kaneki. They have the proper amount of fat, but not too much muscle, so they're soft and easy to eat.** "

Rize grinned. " **I wonder how you'll taste compared to the other two I ate this week?** "

A metallic clang sounded from above. " **Oh?** " Rize asked, looking up. Her eyes grew wide as she saw three steel beams falling towards her at an alarming rate.

Had Rize looked up just a second quicker, perhaps she wouldn't have been crushed.

Then, perhaps Kaneki would have died.

And never become a Ghoul.

Nor forced to go through the tragic, horrible life he currently had.

But she didn't. And so, Kaneki Ken became a Ghoul, by virtue of a simple accident. Right?

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High above Rize's remains, a woman stood. She had pale white skin, medium length black hair, and an astonishingly attractive figure. Few would deny that she was a great beauty.

That is, if it weren't for the terrifying black mask she wore.

Jumping down from her perch by a stack of steel beams, the woman pulled out her scroll and dialed a number with practiced ease.

" **Uta,** " she said.

"Yeah," a disinterested voice answered. "What do you need … Cinder?"

.

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 **Chapter 2: Jaune's Potential**

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"You could fight me and see it up close!"

Everyone's jaws simultaneously hit the ground (with the exception, of Juuzou, who as usual was standing in a corner picking his nose).

"Wait … you want my little sis to fight YOU! You, a Special Class Investigator?!" Yang said incredulously.

"Yeah, I do," Shinohara replied nonchalantly.

Yang grinned. "Alright then Ruby, kick his ass!"

Weiss looked at her teammate in horror. "YANG! You can't say something like that to a Special Class Investigator!" Shinohara laughed heartily at her response, and left the two to their argument.

Stepping forward, Pyrrha had a somewhat worried look on her face. "Mr. Shinohara … please understand, it's not that I don't trust you, but mistakes do happen on the battlefield sometimes. What if you accidentally injured Ruby? Considering how outclassed Weiss was by your subordinate, I can't imagine that Ruby would be any sort of match for you!"

Shinohara scratched his head. "Well, you do make a good point. Hmmm … how about I fight two of you then?"

Pyrrha blinked at his suggestion. _Well I don't really know how much that would help … but I suppose it's better,_ she thought to herself.

"Alright then, who wants to fight with Ruby?" he asked. "How about you, miss?" he asked Pyrrha.

Pyrrha shook her head almost instantly. "No, as much as I'd love to, Jaune is the one that really wanted to see you … so as his teammate, I would appreciate if you could allow him to fight instead of me."

Jaune's eyes lit up at her remark. Sure, he was scared at the prospect of going up against Shinohara, but his excitement at the impending fight outweighed any semblance of fear.

"So Ruby and Jaune vs ShiShi? Sounds like a fair fight to me," Yang remarked.

Shinohara raised an eyebrow. "ShiShi? Is that what you're calling me now?" he asked. Yang nodded, a smug look on her face.

"You do realize that as a Special Class Investigator, I could have all of you expelled from Beacon? Since, well, we do fund your school, after all," he said with a mock serious face.

Weiss, who didn't get the hint that he was joking, opened her mouth in dismay and began yelling at Yang for her "disrespectful attitude," who simply responded in kind with snarky comments of her own. Smiling, Shinohara thought to himself, _Things are so much … simpler, when we're young. What I wouldn't give to go back to my college days._

His face hardened.

 _Those were the days before everything went to hell._

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 _This isn't good,_ Jaune thought to himself. His initial excitement over the battle had faded, now replaced with feelings of raw nerves. For one, he wasn't really sure what he'd be able to do against someone like Shinohara, but more than that, Jaune had his doubts as to whether he and Ruby would work together efficiently. I mean sure, they had battled side by side in the past, but simply having fought together was far from enough against an opponent like Shinohara.

Ruby, on the other hand, didn't seem like she was too worried. Actually, hell, she even seemed confident.

From out of nowhere, Ruby brandished a massive Scythe. Shinohara raised an eyebrow. _So that's her Quinque … not what I would've picked for a small girl like her, but something tells me I shouldn't underestimate her weapon._

Shinohara looked expectantly at Jaune, half expecting him to brandish some sort of ridiculous weapon as well, but to his surprise the boy drew what seemed to be an ordinary sword, and settled into a crouched position.

"Aren't you going to draw your weapon?" Jaune asked.

"I'll be happy to show it to you once you've proved to me that I actually need it in battle, boy," Shinohara said.

Anger painted Jaune's face. _Good,_ Shinohara thought to himself. Normally he wouldn't have gone out of his way to insult an opponent like that, but Ghouls played all sorts of mind games on the battlefield, so taunting opponents was a common technique used by CCG mentors to train their students.

Ruby, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice Shinohara's remark, as she was preoccupied with a tiny blemish on her scythe. There was a look of dismay on her face as she continued to pick at the deformity. _Her personality is almost like … Juuzou's, albeit much more talktative and cheerful,_ Shinohara thought to himself. _She's a bit of an airhead, and something tells me I shouldn't underestimate her. Either that, or I've been spending way too much time with Juuzou lately._

"Alright Ruby, on the count of three we'll both rush him. That sound good?" Jaune asked.

Ruby yawned. "Eh … I don't know Jaune. Don't you think it seems a bit unfair to attack a defenseless old man like that? I think we should take turns!"

"What?!" Jaune exclaimed furiously, fuming at Ruby's nonchalant attitude. "How can you say that?! He's not a defenseless old man! He's a damn Special Class Investigator! There's no way we could ever take him one on one!"

Ruby shrugged, and plopped to the ground taking a seat on the grass. "I think I'll just watch from here for now. I need to get rid of this mark on Crescent Rose anyways," she said, picking at her weapon.

Normally, Jaune would've been furious if someone said something like this to him, but he knew that Ruby didn't actually mean any offense, and was probably legitimately concerned for Shinohara's well-being.

 _I guess that's just her personality,_ he thought to himself. _Well, whatever. This works out fine anyways, since if I can get him to take out his weapon on my own, it'll be much more of an accomplishment._

Raising his sword, Jaune charged headfirst at Shinohara, who stood with his hands behind his back. _He should know that a frontal attack isn't going to work on me,_ Shinohara sighed mentally.

Jaune slashed at the investigator's midsection, but to his shock the attack never connected. Instead, Shinohara reached out his hand and caught Jaune's arm midswing.

"You'll have to be faster than that, boy," he said, before punching Jaune in the gut, sending him flying. The punch wasn't enough to actually hurt Jaune, but it was enough to let him know that Shinohara meant business.

To his surprise, however, Jaune got back up without a second's hesitation. "Damn that hurt," he said to his opponent.

Shinohara raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because from the way you got up, it really didn't seem that way …"

Jaune shrugged, and once again charged at Shinohara. The investigator's eyes narrowed. _Another frontal assault? He can't possibly be that stupid ..._

Reaching out, Shinohara once again grabbed Jaune's weapon mid-swing, catching the blade's handle. He was shocked, however, to see that Jaune was no longer holding the sword.

 _What?! Where did he-_

Shinohara gasped ever so slightly in pain as he felt a punch connect with his stomach, pushing him back slightly. Jaune jumped back, a satisfied smile on his face. "Got you that time!" he said gleefully.

 _I see ..._ _He knew I would try to catch his sword, so he let it go right as a I grabbed it, and instead decided to punch me in the stomach. A clever move, but a very risky one,_ Shinohara thought to himself.

Eyeing his opponent, Shinohara continued aloud, "That was a clever move, but you do realize that you no longer have a weapon, right?"

Jaune's smug expression instantly turned to dismay. "Ah man, I didn't think about that at all! I'm screwed, amn't I?!"

Shinohara laughed, and threw the boy's sword back to him. "Just be more careful in the future," he said.

Jaune nodded, and charged again at the Special Class Investigator, this time attacking from the side in a much less predictable pattern. Shinohara was able to dodge most of Jaune's attacks, but because of the unpredictability of his strikes couldn't stop his weapon as easily as before.

 _To be frank,_ Shinohara said to himself, _His combat skills are horrendous. He's even worse than Weiss, and I can tell that he doesn't possess the same sort of genius that she does when it comes to Quinques._

Jaune stabbed at Shinohara's chest, coming dangerously close to actually hitting him this time, but once again the burly man was able to dodge at the last second.

 _And yet … he learns surprisingly quick, and his friends have a great deal of respect for him. He too, with instruction, could one day become a strong investigator. Perhaps even one of the leaders of the CCG …_

With that, Shinohara finally took the offensive, reaching his arm forward and knocking Jaune's sword out of his hands in a display of brute strength. Jaune fell to the floor, cradling his wrist.

"Damnit!" he yelled.

A concerned look appeared on Shinohara's face. "Are you-"

"Yeah I'm fine," he said, shaking himself. Getting up, he bowed to the superior officer. "Thank you for the spar. It was fun."

Shinohara smiled. "I agree, it was fun. I must say Jaune, you've impressed me quite a bit." At this, Jaune's eyes lit up. "One day, should you choose to go down this path, you will make a fine Investigator."

Jaune grinned from ear to ear. "Thank you again, Special Class," he said. The team leader walked back to Pyrrha with a smug look on his face.

"He does realize that he just lost … to a man with NO WEAPONS, right?" Yang whispered to Weiss.

Weiss snorted. "Well what can you expect from a plebeian like him?"

Yang blinked at her response. "Did you really say what I think you just said?"

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 **Alright guys, that's gonna do it for this chapter! Ended on sort of a happy note there ... do NOT expect that to continue though :P.**

 **Also ... Cinder and Uta working together? What the hell are you thinking Roshank?! All in due time, my friends ...**

 **Review Responses:**

 **KuletXCore: WOW! Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me :). And yeah, Half Ghoul Huntress was actually part of the inspiration for this story, Tokyo Ghoul:Remnant and Ghoul of Night Raid being the other two. Also sorry for no Crescent Rose. Well, I guess we did see it, but not in action :(. Thanks for reviewing! :D**

 **Tee888: Thanks so much! That means so much to-HOLY SHIT WAIT A SEC AREN'T YOU THE AUTHOR OF HALF GHOUL HUNTRESS! xD I never thought I'd see you commenting on my story. Huge fan of yours btw! Really can't express how much it means to me that you even took the time to look at my story. And don't worry, there will be LOTS of blood spewing in future chapters :P**

 **Roshank Redemption: You are a horrible writer and a fanficiton noob xD.**


	4. Chapter 3: The Budding Rose

**Author's Note:** **I realize I'm making a lot of comparisons to Arima right now, but there's a good reason why, I promise. See an authors at the end for more details.**

 **Music:** **I've sorta decided that maybe I should stop recommending music ... just because I feel like it interrupts the flow of the story. Let me know what you guys think on this; happy to abide by whatever your guys wishes are! :D**

 **Additionally:** **Daily reminder to check out ghoul_edits (the guy who made the cover pic for this story) on instagram for amazing art!**

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... will represent a TIME BREAK**

 **Bold text will represent GHOUL VOICE  
** _Italics will represent INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves  
_ Underline will be used for EMPHASIS

 **Mandatory Disclaimer: I do not own any of the series depicting in this story, nor do I own any of the music. In fact, I own nothing xD.**

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 **Chapter 3: The Budding Rose**

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Moments after Jaune's fight ended, Ruby and Shinohara stood across the battle grounds, facing one another. Ruby, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was fighting a Special Class Investigator, was still picking at the mark on her weapon, genuinely sad over the blemish.

"Ruby!" Shinohara cried. "We'll begin whenever you're ready. You can have the first move!"

Sighing, Ruby crouched into a fighting position. _Oh?_ Shinohara thought to himself. _From that stance, it would appear she's had some instruction from an investigator, or perhaps former investigator by the looks of it._

"I just wanna say for the record, that I feel really bad attacking a defenseless opponent," Ruby said, blushing slightly. "Are you sure you don't wanna take out your weapon?"

Shinohara grinned confidently. "Oh don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Clutching her scythe, Ruby steeled herself and charged straight towards her opponent. Shinohara immediately rolled his eyes. _What is it with these kids and frontal attacks? Doesn't she know that's not gonna work-_

The investigator's train of thought was interrupted mid-sentence as Ruby disappeared, leaving a trail of roses. _Where did she-_

Shinohra gasped as Ruby appeared in front of him, knocking him backwards with the tail end of her scythe. Coughing, the investigator dropped to one knee.

"Ah no, I overdid it!" Ruby exclaimed, running over to her opponent.

"No, I'm fine," he responded. Shinohara dusted off his suit and got up from the ground. _What … happened?_ he asked himself.

The Special Class' eyes narrowed as he looked at the opponent before him. _She moved so quickly, it looked as though she disappeared for a second!_

Shinohara grimaced. He was certain that if he used his Quinque, he would be able to win fairly handily, but nonetheless the girl's skill had impressed him.

"That was an excellent move, Ruby," he said. Ruby blushed at his praise. "U-um, thanks Mr. Shinohara. I hope I didn't injure you!" she responded.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine," he said. And he wasn't bluffing - if there was one thing Shinohara was good at, it was enduring hits and outlasting his opponent. The man was by no means quick, nor clever, but he was strong and experienced, which had won him countless victories on the battlefield. And now, after that first attack, he understood his opponent's abilities much better, so he would easily be able to counterattack the second time around.

Or, so he thought.

Once again, faster than he could follow, Ruby appeared at his side and slashed at him with Crescent Rose. This time, Shinohara was able to block the blow, but only just barely. Ruby proceeded to execute a series of slashes, aimed at Shinohara's chest, which Shinohara was only barely able to dodge. After the 9th or 10th strike, Ruby withdrew and gracefully jumped backwards.

 _I still can't get a read on her,_ he said to himself. Normally, he wouldn't be afraid of such an opponent, since usually fast opponents could do little to no damage to him by virtue of his strong build, but Ruby was SO fast that he doubted he could ever actually land a hit on her. And he was reluctant to take out his weapon, both for his own pride, and because he still believed that he could defeat her bare-handed.

"You aren't going to attack me?" Shinohara said to her.

Ruby's head perked up at his remark. "Oh … well, you seemed pre-occupied with something, so I didn't want to interrupt!" she said cheerfully.

Shinohara raised an eyebrow. _If only we had more people like her in the CCG. Then, perhaps going to work everyday wouldn't be so morbid._

Crouching again into a fighting position, Shinohara said, "Thank you for your concern. I'm ready now, so come at me whenever you wish."

Ruby nodded. This time, she appeared at his left side, slashing at her target's arm. Shinohara predicted the attack, and looked for an opening in her technique to exploit, but to his dismay there was none. She slashed again, this time at his left arm, but once again Shinohara could do nothing but dodge her attack.

Again, and again, Ruby slashed at her opponent, inflicting more than a few minor bruises on her opponent. Shinohara could see that it pained her to hurt a comrade, but still she pushed through.

The sun began to set, as their battle raged on into the evening.

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 _This feeling,_ Shinohara thought to himself. _Something about it is … familiar. It's almost as though this isn't my first time fighting Ruby._

The Special Class frowned. Obviously that was impossible, since he and Ruby had never met before.

 _So why, then? Why does this exchange feel so familiar?_

The answer hit him like a rock.

This sensation he was feeling right now, was the exact same he had felt on a day nearly 10 years ago, long before his promotion to Special Class. The very day he had met and sparred with none other than-

KISHOU ARIMA.

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Ruby felt … INCREDIBLE. She wasn't sure how, or why, but for whatever reason she felt stronger than she ever had before. Perhaps the fact that she was fighting an officer of the CCG had energized and motivated her. Or, perhaps it was that she had finally begun to mature as a fighter. Being only 15 years old, she had an inherent disadvantage compared to others at the school due to her age, but as she grew older, Ruby knew that gap would begin to fade.

Or, perhaps it was just that she really wanted to see Shinohara's weapon.

Her teammates watched in awe as she struck at her opponent again and again, relentlessly. "Weiss," Yang said, eyes glued to the battle in front of her. "When did Ruby get … this STRONG?" she asked.

"I don't know," her friend responded, eyes wide. Granted they hadn't seen Ruby fight a truly powerful opponent in quite some time, but even still it was hard to believe that Ruby was improving so quickly.

Shinohara jumped back abruptly, earning a questioning glance from his opponent and the spectators. _I can't win without my weapon,_ he stated bluntly. _Because this girl before me, isn't just a prodigy … she's the future of the CCG!_

"Juuzou," he called, signaling his subordinate. From the sidelines, Juuzou tossed Shinohara a briefcase. Ruby's eyes widened. "Is that …"

"Yeah, it's my Quinque," he said to her. Opening the suitcase, he pulled out what appeared to be a massive butcher knife, much to Ruby's delight. Both her, as well as her partner's eyes sparkled with barely suppressed glee, and even Yang seemed impressed by the weapon before her.

"This, is my weapon - Demon Yamada 1, forged from the remains of an S class ghoul." Shinohara's eyes narrowed. He truly believed he would be able to beat his opponent now, with his weapon in hand, but he had made the mistake of underestimating Ruby once before, and he wasn't about to do so again.

Ruby could barely contain her excitement as she rushed at her opponent. This time, instead of dodging, Shinohara met her attacks head on, blocking them with his Quinque. Immediately, much to Ruby's dismay, the fight turned in the veteran's favor, with him blocking each and every one of Ruby's strikes, and scoring a few hits of his own.

Ruby, however, never faltered. She was having too much fun, too enamored with her opponents weapon and how it clashed with her own.

 _I think it's time I took it up a notch,_ she said to herself.

Shinohara's eyes widened as the speed of Ruby's attacks increased, if that was even possible. She struck at the right and left sides of his body almost simultaneously, forcing him to use his Quinque as a makeshift shield.

 _She's too fast,_ he thought to himself. _Damnit … I really didn't want to do this, but it looks like I've got no choice!_

Steeling himself, Shinohara raised his Quinque, and struck Crescent Rose as hard as he could. Ruby, who somehow managed to realize what he was trying to do at the last second, desperately tried to retract her Quinque, but to no avail. The two blades clashed in a brutal collision, jarring both combatants.

More importantly, however, the force was far too much for Crescent Rose, and a crack appeared down the weapon. Ruby's eyes widened in dismay as the crack grew larger and larger, until-

The blade of her weapon shattered into pieces.

 _NO!_ she yelled inwardly, falling to her knees. "My Crescent Rose!" she said, tears gathering in her eyes.

Shinohara winced at her reaction. _That's two Quinques shattered in one day … and from the looks of it, this one isn't gonna be salvageable._ Shinohara put a hand behind his head and sighed. _I guess we'll just have to reforge it then_.

Ruby's crying got louder and louder until it became a full-out bawl. Yang facepalmed. If there was one thing you should never do to Ruby, it was breaking her weapon.

Shinohara cleared his throat, and kneeled next to her. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll personally reforge it for you and make it stronger than ever before, that's a promise. I had fun in our fight, Ruby."

At this, Ruby's tears abated somewhat, and she wiped her eyes with her sleeves. "Th-thank you, Mr. Shinohara. I had fun too!" she sniffed.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... …**

After spending a few minutes consoling Ruby, Shinohara walked over to a nearby bench and he sat down. He began tending to some of the cuts on his body. _That girl sure is ruthless when she wants to be,_ he said to himself.

Looking out to the sky, Shinohara fell into deep thought. He had a lot on his mind after fighting with Weiss, Jaune, and Ruby.

Each time they visited Academies like Beacon, Investigators were tasked not only with inspiring students and educating them about the lives of CCG operatives, but also with finding any students who showed what Chairman Tsuneyoshi had described as, "special potential." The old man's definition of what "special potential" was had gone completely over his head, but there was one thing that Shinohara was certain of: whatever it was, Weiss, Ruby, and even Jaune to some degree had shown it on the battlefield.

So, protocol dictated that he offer them the opportunity to graduate early, and begin working for the CCG - an environment in which their talents would be better nurtured. Shinohara was certain that Weiss would benefit from getting more hands on experience with Quinques, and if Jaune was to truly lead the CCG someday, then he would need to enter the organization as soon as possible,

Ruby, however, he wasn't so sure about.

Not because of her skills, or her demeanor, or anything else, really. She would make a fine investigator, and under normal circumstances, he would have recruited her in a heartbeat. There was only one, slight problem.

"Weiss, Jaune," he said, walking over to the group of youths, who were apparently discussing something embarrassing, since Weiss' face had turned redder than a tomato, and Ruby's face was similarly colored.

"Y-yes Special Class?" Weiss asked.

"I would like the two of you to meet me in your headmaster's office tomorrow at 11:00 am sharp. Does that sound okay?"

Weiss' eyes widened, and Jaune gaped at the investigator's request. _He wants to ... meet with us? But why?!_

"Well, does that work?" he asked, somewhat irritated. Not at his recruits, of course, but rather at the entire … situation.

"Yes, sir!" they replied simultaneously.

Yang snickered, before remarking, "Well would ya look at that, you two are actually on the same page for once. At this rate who knows, maybe you'll end up dating!"

Weiss' faced turned red for what must have been the 5th time that day, as she turned her head and gave a flustered, "Hmph."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Shinohara," Jaune said. He was so happy, he'd barely noticed Yang's snide remark. "I could never have imagined that I'd be able to fight against and learn from someone of your caliber ever in my lifetime. It means more to me than I could ever express in words," he said, bowing before the superior officer. Shinohara nodded, and with that the group began to walk away.

"Wait," he said, stopping them. "Ruby … May I ask you something?" Ruby nodded, clenching her fists.

"How old are you?"

Ruby hesitated. Not because she didn't know her own age, obviously, but because she had an idea of why the Special Class was asking her.

"15," she said.

Shinohara's face fell. There was no way, no way in HELL that he could expose a 15 year old to the horrors of the Ghoul world.

In fact, he almost wished that she hadn't been such a prodigy. He wished, with all his heart and soul, that the kind girl he had fought today would for whatever reason NOT join the CCG, and never become and investigator. Perhaps she could become a nurse, or a doctor, or do something else she enjoyed, and live a happy life with her sister, and the rest of her family, instead of falling prey to the insanity that was the war between humans and ghouls.

…

…

It was just too bad, that something like that was NEVER going to happen.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Okay first thing I wanna clarify, is that although they were close in this fight, Ruby is nowhere NEAR Shinohara's level. With his armor, Shinohara would destroy Ruby. I would put Ruby at about the level of a Rank 2 investigator for now, which is really strong for a 15 year old, if you think about it. Arima was rank 2 into his 20s if I'm not mistaken. Weiss I'd say is Rank 3 level, and Jaune probably below Rank 3 in terms of fighting ability, but he makes up for it with other characteristics. Yang is slightly stronger than Weiss, probably at Rank 2 level.

Alright, now I need to address all this Arima business. I realize I'm really pushing the Arima comparisons, but let me try and give you an idea of what I'm trying to do. So, Arima is basically the strongest CCG investigator, and he essentially represents the strength and power of the CCG. The whole point of the past 2 chapters is to show that Weiss has inherited Arima's intellectual ability (at least, when it comes to Quinques), and Ruby has inherited Arima's skills. The two of them together therefore are symbolic of Arima's skills, and thus the future of the CCG. That's the reason for these comparisons.

Otherwise, that's pretty much all I have to say, so thanks as always for reading and I'll see you all in the next chapter! :D

 **Review Responses:**

 **Tee888: So first of all, thanks SO Much for the reviews. Really means a lot :). Also "Uta and Cinder kappa" summed up my thoughts exactly xD. Also feel free to use the same cover picture as me; it's not like I own it anyways, lol xD. Happy to provide you with a link if you pm me :) (since I can't provide a link here, dammit :( ). Thanks for the continued support! :D**


	5. Chapter 4: Qrow

**Author's Note:** A note on Dr. Shiba, I wanted to make their biology teacher someone who we know, so I decided to make it Shiba (one of the doctors for the CCG). So he's gonna be a part time teacher, part time CCG doctor, I guess.

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the series depicting in this story, nor any of the characters, etc. In fact, I own nothing xD.

 **Time Break: ... ... ... ... ... ...  
** **Bold text: GHOUL VOICE  
** _Italics: INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves; also used occasionally for EMPHASIS when characters are speaking_

* * *

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

 **Chapter 4: Qrow**

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

" **AAAHHHHHHHHHHH**!"

A woman's scream echoed through the halls of an underground laboratory. **"MEAT! MEAT! I want to eat, I need to eat! Anything, I'm SO hungry!** "

A head perked up at the woman's tantrum. The man was old with gray hair, clothed a white laboratory coat with a black necktie. A disturbingly gentle smile painted his face.

"Now now, Rize," he said with fake kindness, smiling at his test subject. The ghoul was imprisoned in a cramped experiment tube, filled with liquid, and her body was frail and weak from having not eaten for weeks. "You know I can't do that. As much as I would love to help you out, my experiments must continue. I'm sure you can under-"

Rize screamed and clawed at the glass, cutting the doctor off. Kanou sighed. _This is a waste of time … she's obviously beyond reason at this point._

Though on the outside he exuded calmness, internally the Doctor was furious. Since his initial success with Kaneki, nearly all of his experiments had failed. Over 200 times he had attempted to create another artificial Ghoul, but each of those experiments had failed miserably. Even the Yasuhisa twins, who had shown great compatibility with Kakuhou Transplant Surgery at the outset, turned out to be nothing more than glorified "floppies."

 _The problem is,_ he thought to himself. _Kaneki had an abnormally high resistance to the side effects of sudden RC factor increase. So, when I transplanted a Kakuhou into his body, he was able to cope with the changes it brought about_.

In contrast to Kaneki, the vast majority of subjects either went completely insane, or mutated into deformed creatures that could no longer be called human. And worse still, Rize's Kakuhou was slowly deteriorating, making her less and less useful with every transplant. He needed to do something quick, or else it would be the end of his experiments for the time being.

"Papa?" a white haired girl asked from behind him. "Is everything okay?"

Kanou smiled at her, before responding, "No, Nashiro ... it's NOT."

Nashiro shot the Doctor a concerned look. "Is there anything we can do?"

Kanou hesitated. He had an idea in mind, but it would be a bit of a gamble. No, strike that, it would be a HUGE gamble.

Kanou smiled. _Then again, to make the ultimate creation, I'm going to have to make a few gambles, amn't I?_

"Actually, yes, there is. I need you and your sister to contact a certain … _associate_ … of mine. _"_

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... ... …**

It was 9:00 am and Team RWBY was currently in biology class, going about their usual class routines. Ruby had her bag out in front of her and was using it as a pillow, snoring cutely. Weiss had her notebook out and was taking profuse notes, while Yang was attempting to annoy her, making snarky comments about how her handwriting could be a little neater. Which Weiss claimed was, "Absolutely preposterous," since she had "practiced her calligraphy from a very young age." Finally, Blake was doing her own thing, quietly reading her favorite book - a novel entitled _Dear Kafka,_ by famous author Takatsuki Sen.

"Alright class," Shiba said, adjusting his glasses. As always nobody seemed to be paying attention, but then again what could you expect when lecturing about the 0.364% difference in sodium levels between a human and a ghoul.

The next topic he had in mind, however, was much more interesting. Smirking, he said, "Next let's move on to a discussion of ROS disease, otherwise known as RC Cell Over Secretion."

Immediately, the majority of the class perked up. Ruby even woke up from sleeping, eyes wide at the doctors sudden transition in topics.

Yang gave Ruby a worried glance. _Damn old geyser, of course he brings up something like this!_ Yang even considered for a moment grabbing Ruby and dragging her out of the classroom, but decided against it. Shiba would probably murder her if she did.

"Can anyone tell me what ROS disease is?"

Immediately Ruby's hand shot up. Half the class's jaws dropped in astonishment. Ruby both awake AND answering a question? What sort of alternate universe had they warped to?

"Yes, Miss Rose," Shiba said, doing his best to hide his surprise.

"ROS disease is a rare disease that occurs approximately once in every 1-3 million people. It's an abnormality of the RC cells in the human body, and causes kagune-like growths to form all over the victim's body. There is no known cure for the condition … at least, _supposedly_ there isn't …"

The entire class, including Dr. Shiba, gasped in amazement. _How in the hell does she know all that?_ he asked.

Yang gave Ruby a concerned glace. "Would you like to tell us about the symptoms of ROS disease, Miss Rose?"

A sad look appeared in Ruby's eyes. "… The symptoms of ROS disease include intense pain, digestive system issues, confusion and memory alteration, degradation of the senses, and regression into a child-like mental state."

All the while, she glanced down, not making eye contact with the professor.

"Excellent work, Miss Rose. Now, let's briefly discuss _why_ exactly ROS disease takes place. To begin wi-"

"Excuse me Dr. Shiba!" Yang said aloud. "I don't think my sister is … feeling very well. Mind if I take her to health services?"

Shiba's eyes narrowed. There was something going on that he wasn't aware of. And it wasn't the usual troublemaking shenanigans Yang was up to … no, this time there was something legitimately wrong. "Yes, you may … but I want to see the both of you right after class, and if that's not possible then later today. Got it?"

Yang nodded. The old geyser probably knew something was up.

And with that, Yang and Ruby left the class, Ruby not looking up once as they exited.

Blake shot a worried glance at her teammates. _What in the world … was that all about?_

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... ... …**

An hour later, Yang, Ruby, Blake, and Weiss stood in front of Dr. Shiba. Yang eyed her teammates, before saying protectively, "Weiss, Blake, I think you guys should leav-"

"It's okay Yang," Ruby interrupted. _What happened really wasn't a big deal anyways … just thinking about it, brings back bad memories, I guess._

Shiba raised an eyebrow. "So … care to tell me what's really going on here?"

Ruby sighed, before answering, "I'm a survivor of ROS disease."

Shiba just stared at her, stunned at the revelation. Weiss and Blake were similarly affected.

 _A … SURVIVOR?!_ the doctor exclaimed to himself. _But that's … impossible; there's no known cure for ROS disease. No human could possibly have that level of RC tolerance … and more importantly, why haven't I already heard about something like this!_

"RUBY!" Yang yelled. "I thought I told you not to say anything about that!"

Ruby gave her an apologetic glance. "Sorry … it's just, I've never really told anyone outside of our family …"

Dr. Shiba straightened his glasses, before answering, "It's not that I think you're a liar, but I find that hard to believe. As a Doctor myself, I ought to have heard of such a phenomenon had it happened."

Ruby twiddled her thumbs, before answering, "Well … let's just say that … a family member helped cover it up."

Realization came over Shiba. _I get it now. This must have been that bastard Qrow's doing. Completely understandable, since she'd be under constant scrutiny of the media, and probably the subject of countless experiments if information like this got out._

"Well, if that's truly the case, then you probably shouldn't be telling me this. The fact that even three more people now know is NOT good."

Yang face-palmed. This was not how she had intended for things to go. _Damnit Ruby, I swear one day your innocence is going to be the death of us._

Weiss put a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with us. Right, Blake?"

"Yeah, sure," she responded without interest, pulling out a book.

 _Sheesh, what's her problem?_ Weiss thought to herself. _Ever since we started the new semester she's been so ... grumpy!_

Dr. Shiba nodded. "Good. And I, of course will be sure to keep this to myself as well. You're free to go now … take care, Ruby."

Ruby nodded, as team RWBY walked off.

Yang couldn't say why, but she had a really bad feeling about what had just happened …

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Outside the lecture hall stood a familiar figure - pale white skin, medium black hair, and an hourglass figure. This time, however, she was disguised as a normal schoolgirl … and she wasn't wearing a mask.

 _Ruby Rose … is a survivor of ROS disease?_ Cinder smirked to herself. _Things are really starting to get interesting around here …_

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Weiss and Jaune awaited nervously outside their headmaster's office. Raw nerves cluched at the heiress' chest. She had absolutely no idea why Shinohara had wanted to see them … and couldn't help but feel a little nervous at the whole situation.

Turning her head, she gave Jaune a concerned glance. _Well … at least I'm doing better than him._

Jaune was visibly shaking and sweating in place. The previous day, when he had fought Shinohara, the adrenaline had effectively cancelled out any semblance of nerves, but now all that was gone.

Jaune felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking over, he saw Weiss smiling at him. "Don't worry Jaune … no matter what happens, it'll work out in the end."

The second Weiss realized what she was doing, she blushed and turned her head away. "B-but … you're still vomit boy, got it?!"

Jaune chucked. "Thanks Weiss," he replied.

Just as he finished his sentence, the office door swung open, revealing headmaster Ozpin. Peeking his head out, Ozpin said, "You can come in, Weiss, Jaune," he said.

The two entered, and not surprisingly, Shinohara and Juuzou were both in the room, sitting at chairs adjacent to the Headmaster's desk. But, that wasn't what caught Weiss's attention. Rather, it was the sleek, black haired man who was standing beside them, who had her focus at the moment. The man's movements were slurred and confused, almost as if he were … drunk?!

"So," he said. "These are the two kids you wanted to recruit, huh? Don't look like much to me. Especially the white haired one. She's probably a total wimp."

Weiss' face flushed red with anger. She was about to respond in kind, when Shinohara said, "And this, Qrow, is EXACTLY why you shouldn't drink before meetings. It's unbecoming of an Associate Special Class investigator."

 _Associate Special Class?! How could an idiot like this POSSIBLY be that high ranked?!_

"And besides, she's a teammate of your niece, so I would imagine you should be a little nicer to her."

Weiss resisted the urge to gasp. _Hold on … so THIS is Ruby's uncle?_ The heiress rolled her eyes internally. _Of course, it makes so much sense now!_

"Damn, Ruby's gotta work with you? Feel sorry for the kid," he responded.

Weiss' face grew redder but again she resisted the urge to get up and smack him in the face.

Shinohara put a hand over his face. "Just ignore him," Ozpin remarked.

Getting up, Shinohara said, "Alright you two, I'm gonna get straight to the point here. My job in coming here wasn't only to make a speech, but it was also to recruit students with "special potential" into the CCG. Not only did you two show a great deal of motivation and interest in wanting to meet with me, but you both possess unique skills that I believe can be of great use to the CCG."

Turning straight towards them, he continued, "As such … I would like to offer both of you the opportunity to graduate from Beacon early, and begin working as Rank 3 investigators immediately."

Both of the student's jaws dropped at his proclamation. Weiss had expected some sort of offer, but she was thinking more along the lines of a temporary job in the medical squad, or in Quinque Research. But never, in her wildest dreams, did she think at the age of 18 she would be a full-blown investigator.

"Well, are you two idiots gonna accept the offer, or not?" Qrow demanded.

It took her a few seconds, but eventually Weiss found her voice again. "Y-yes Mr. Shinohara … we … we would love to join the CCG! Thank you for the opportunity!"

Jaune got up and nodded profusely in agreement, then - still at a loss for words - bowed to Ozpin, Juuzou, and Qrow in a gesture of gratitude. Weiss followed in kind, but deliberately ignored Qrow in an attempt to piss him off. It didn't work, but the drunken man did look somewhat amused.

Shinohara grinned, and placed his hands on each of their shoulders. "Excellent! Report to CCG headquarters at 8:00am Monday. We'll get in contact over the weekend about various forms and paperwork you need to fill out. Which unfortunately, there are many …"

Shinohara sighed. Appointing new investigators was always such a nostalgic experience. "Oh, and another thing I should mention: you'll be working under the Qrow Squad for the first few months. Qrow might be a bit … out of whack at times, but I promise he's a fine mentor!"

Weiss' face instantly mutated from an expression of gratitude to a look of profound horror. _No, not him! Anything but him!_

Qrow just grinned in response. _Oh boy … I am gonna have fun ordering THIS Ice Queen around._

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

 **"** **MEAAAATTTTT!"** Rize yelled at the top of her lungs.

Kanou grimaced, ever so slightly. Her screaming had become nearly intolerable the past few hours. Truth be told, he wanted nothing more than to kill her and be done with it. But, he needed Rize if he wanted to continue his experiments for the time being.

Kanou's train of thought, however, was broken as he heard his scroll ringing. Reaching into his pocket, the elderly doctor answered, "Hello?"

The other end was silent for a few seconds. Then:

 **"** **Dr. Kanou, I presume?"**

"Yes," he answered. _Who could possibly be calling ME at this time, and for what purpose?_

"Who are you?" he asked bluntly.

The voice snickered. **"Ah, what an interesting question. Yes, who am I indeed? Well, I go by many different names, but you can call me … NO-FACE."**

"Very well," the doctor answered cautiously. "What is it that you … needed?"

The ghoul chuckled, a distinctly male laugh, before continuing **, "Lets just say that I have an interesting bit of information for you, good Doctor."** Kanou's eyes narrowed.

 **"** **It's regarding a certain student at Beacon Academy, by the name of …**

 **RUBY ROSE."**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 **Dun Dun Dun!**

Don't wanna spoil anything, but all I'm gonna say is the fact that Ruby had ROS disease is definitely gonna come up later. Also, pay special attention to the appearances of Cinder and No-Face this chapter. That will also come up later.

 **Review Responses**

 **KuletXCore:** I agree, Ruby is a badass! If only SHinohara had recruited her to join the CCG, right?

And as for pre-made chapters, well the answer is ... sort of xD. I've already written up to chapter 7, so I guess so. Currently working on mapping out the story and I think I have most of it mapped out. You guys will see the direction I wanna take a little more once we get to chapter 7. Also, the title isn't going to make any sense until WAY later on. Thanks SO much for your continued support btw! :D


	6. Important Character & Faction Data

**Author's Note:**

Thought you guys might find this interesting. It's a description of all important organizations in this fanfic, as well as the characters. Pay especial attention to the **Clowns** , the ** CCG**, and ** Other**. Will be updating this and reposting it regularly, as new information is received.

One thing I wanna clarify though, is that for the Ghoul Organizations the names given are their GHOUL CODENAMES, not their actual names, with the exception of a few. If a character sounds familiar from RWBY, but their name doesn't match, chances are that it's the character you're thinking of, but under a Ghoul codename (like Kaneki is called Eyepatch or Centipede). I will not be changing anyone's names, don't worry.

Also: I have finished mapping out the ENTIRETY OF PART 1 for the story. To give you an idea of how long part 1 will be, I have 6 arcs planned, and we are about 1/7 or so of the way through one arc. And there are gonna be at least 2 parts. Yeah, it's gonna be long xD.

Being honest though, I'm not sure how often I will be able to update in the future. I've had some free time lately, but generally I'm super busy, especially during the school year. More on this later, though, when the next chapter releases.

Oh and also I should say, this log is built from data a few chapters ahead. I sorta just wanted to "tease" you guys a bit for the coming chapters :P. Don't worry because I've omitted all the huge spoiler stuff. Enjoy! :D

* * *

 **V Organization**

Legend has it that **V** is a secret society of ghouls, that operates in the shadows and strives to maintain a "balance". Outside of this, very little is known about **V**. In fact, it is uncertain if **V** even exists, or us just some made up story used to scare children at night.

There are also rumors that the One Eyed Owl was once associated with **V** … but these are nothing more than pure conjecture.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Aogiri Tree**

A terrorist organization of ghouls that has usurped the power in the 11th ward, and has started targeting the ghoul investigators in the ward. In recent years, combating the growing strength and influence of the organization has become one of the CCG's most pressing priorities.

Notable Members

 **One Eyed Owl/King:** Organization Leader. SSS.

 **Eto:** Rank Unknown. Rating unknown. Suspected relation to the **One Eyed Owl**

 **Tatara:** Executive. Rating unknown, but predicted SS+. Unflappable demeanor, but sometimes loses his cool around Associate Special Class Qrow, for unknown reasons.

 **Noro** : Executive. Rating unknown, but predicted SS.

 **Miza, a.k.a. Triple Blades:** Executive. S.

 **Naki:** Executive. A.

 **Roman Torchwick:** Executive, A. Evidently unable to release his Kagune and is not a good fighter. However, has some tricks up his sleeve. Very good at getting information.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Clowns/Pierrot**

The **Clowns** are a small group of Ghouls with mysterious goals and purpose. Though the clowns technically have no leader, two figures seem to have more authority than the rest of the members: **No-Face** and **Nightflare** **.** Both are incredibly powerful and mysterious Ghouls with legendary reputation in both the human and Ghoul world.

The organization's members primarily wear Clown-themed masks, ironically with the exception of **No-Face** and **Nightflare** **.** Supposedly, their intention is to "have the last laugh". They once resided in the 3rd ward, but their current base of operations is unknown.

At an unspecified time before the events of this story, the CCG attempted an extermination mission to eradicate the clowns in the 3rd ward. The investigation was nearly a disaster, even with Arima taking a part of it. Ultimately, the CCG was victorious, but the organization's most powerful members escaped. It is said that **No-Face,** in particular, left no traces of any enemies he fought, making it difficult for the CCG to assign a rating to him.

Notable Members

 **No-Face:** Tentative rating of SSS. Nobody has ever seen his Kagune in action and lived, making him extremely difficult to rate. Wears a mask with a beak-like protrusion and four holes above said protrusion. Has most authority in the organization.

 **Nightflare:** Tentative rating of SS+. Female. Often wears red clothing.

 **Roma Haito:** Cochlea Prison Escapee. Often seen alongside **No-Face.** Only clown whose face and true identity are known. SS.

 **Silver:** Position Unknown. Tentative S rating. Often seen with Nightflare. Known for his distinctive gray/silver hair and gray battlesuit.

 **Pearl:** Position Unknown. Tentative S rating. Also often seen alongside Nightflare. Noted for her half pink, half brown hair color.

 **Unknown Member:** Position Unknown. Male with orange hair. Wears a red-lined white suit and a gray scarf.

 **Unknown Member:** Position Unknown. Attractive woman with long red hair. Often wears revealing clothing to distract enemies. Wears a Carnival Mask.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **CCG**

The **Commission of Counter Ghoul** was founded in 1890 by Daikichi Washuu, and is a federal agency that serves as a criminal investigative body in cases connected to ghouls

Notable Members:

 **Tsuneyoshi Washuu:** CCG Chairman. Very old. Those who know him say the air around him is always "heavy." Dislikes nonsense and excuses.

 **Yoshitoki Washuu:** CCG Bureau Director. Unlike his Father, Tsuneyoshi, he is kind and easy to get along with. However, can be ruthless when it comes to his job.

 **Kishou Arima:** Special Class Investigator. Hailed as strongest in CCG history. Legend has it that he can subdue even SSS Ghouls with ease.

 **Yukinori Shinohara:** Special Class Investigator. Mentor of Weiss Schnee, Jaune Arc, and Suzuya Juuzou.

 **Itsuke Marude:** Special Class Investigator; Division II Manager.

 **Qrow Branwen:** Associate Special Class Investigator. Leader of Qrow Squad. Often Drunk. Famous for exploits in Atlas where he killed hundreds of Ghouls.

 **Matsuri Washuu:** Associate Special Class Investigator. Rumor has it that he does not have a good relationship with his father, Yoshitoki Washuu.

 **Tashi Fura:** First Class Investigator. Good friend of Kishou Arima. Very capable.

 **Kureo Mado:** DECEASED. First Class Investigator before death. Former member of Qrow Squad. Constantly refused promotions to Associate Special Class. Was greatly respected and trusted by Qrow.

 **-ERROR- Schnee:** DECEASED. Rank 1 Investigator before death. Former member of Qrow Squad.

 **Amon Koutarou:** Rank 1 Investigator. Partner of **-Error-**. Member of Qrow Squad.

 **Suzuya Juuzou:** Rank 2 Investigator. Partner of Yukinori Shinohara. Rarely speaks and has a somewhat strange demeanor. Respects and is close to Shinohara.

 **Weiss Schnee:** Rank 3 Investigator. Partnered with **-Error-**. Has a mild obsession with Quinques. Member of Qrow Squad.

 **Jaune Arc:** Rank 3 Investigator. Partnered with **-Error-**. Member of Qrow Squad. Qrow often drunkenly berates him for not "meeting expectations."

 **Ozpin:** FORMER Special Class Investigator. Hailed as the strongest Ghoul Investigator in recent history, after Arima. Currently retired and the headmaster of Beacon Academy.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Kaneki's Kru (Group)**

 **Kaneki** **Ken** (leader)

 **Shuu Tsukiyama**

 **Kazuichi Banjou**

-Error, unable to retrieve data-

-Error, unable to retrieve data-

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Other**

 **Ruby Rose:** Status unknown. Location Unknown. Objective Unknown.

 **Yang Xiao-Long:** Student attending Beacon Academy. Concerned for her sister.


	7. Chapter 5: The Doctor and the King

**Author's Note:** I re-ordered the chapters a little bit, and also changed the name of the story. Apologies for all the changes guys; I have a better idea of the story's direction now it won't happen again, I promise xD. See the prologue for an interesting  note on the title.

Also, I highly recommend reading the Character & Faction Data data page (the previous "chapter," or whatever you want to call it), or you might be a tad bit confused. Believe me when I say that it will definitely help in understanding the story!

 **Cover Art:** Daily reminder to check out **ghoul_edits** (the guy who made the cover pic for this story) on instagram for amazing art!

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the series depicting in this story, nor any of the characters, etc. In fact, I own nothing xD.

 **Time Break: ... ... ... ... ... ...  
** **Bold text: GHOUL VOICE  
** _Italics: INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves; also used occasionally for EMPHASIS when characters are speaking_

* * *

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 **Chapter 5: The Doctor and The King**

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"HE DID WHAT?!" exclaimed Yang.

She and Ruby openly gaped at Weiss, who averted her eyes, slightly disconcerted, but somewhat flattered at her teammates' reactions to her appointment as a Rank 3 Investigator.

Yang jumped of her bed and put an arm around the heiress, grinning from ear to ear. "Ya did good kid," she said.

Ruby also came down from her bed to congratulate her teammate. Truth be told, she was somewhat envious that Shinohara hadn't offered her the opportunity as well, but at the same time she _was_ quite young, and also wasn't sure about the prospect of leaving her sister.

Nonetheless, the point is Ruby was ecstatic about the opportunity her teammate had been given. Unlike a certain someone else …

"Blake, get down here," Yang said. "What did I tell you about participating in group hugs?"

The three girls laughed, but Blake just responded with a, "Yeah, whatever."

Yang's eyes narrowed.

"That's it!" Weiss said, on the verge of yelling. "Blake Belladonna, you come down here right this instant! You've been acting terribly … _disrespectful_ as of late, and as your teammate I cannot abide it!"

Yang rolled her eyes at Weiss' remark. Sure, her teammate was right in what she was saying, but the way she said it sounded like she was Blake's mom, or something.

Blake shut her book, quietly but firmly. "I find it ironic that you're lecturing me about being disrespectful, when you're about to begin working for an organization that kills _living creatures_ as a profession," she said coldly. "If I'm disrespectful, then I shudder to think what kind of monster you would be."

Weiss' eyes widened. "Blake, that's enough," Yang said. "Look, I know Ice Queen can be a bit stuck up sometimes, but you've been acting really strange ever since we got back to Beacon. What's wrong?" Yang glared at Blake expectantly, awaiting her answer.

Blake averted her eyes. "It's … not something I can talk about," she said.

Yang rolled her eyes. Sometimes, she felt as though she barely knew anything about her teammate. Or rather, she knew nothing about her teammate _outside_ of Beacon. She knew about Blake's part time job, but outside of the fact that she worked at a coffee shop, they know nothing else. Not once had Blake mentioned her parents, her friends, or, hell, anything about her past in general. She intended, however, to change that very soon.

"And why not?" Yang asked. "We're your TEAMMATES Blake, you can tell us anything!" As if to emphasize this, she pulled Ruby and Weiss into a tight hug.

An awkward silence enveloped the room as she pondered Yang's remark. As much as she hated to admit it, the blonde's statement did have some merit to it.

 _She's … she's right,_ Blake thought to herself. _I haven't been myself ever since … HE went and left._

"Don't tell me the manager at that coffee shop fired you, or something?" Yang asked.

"No! That's not what happened," she said.

"Then what did happen? Did your boyfriend break up with you?"

"I … NO!" she said, blushing profusely. "We're NOT dating or anything Yang!"

"AHA! So there is a boy! I KNEW IT!"

Blake facepalmed, as Ruby fell to the ground in laughter. Even Weiss couldn't help but grin, and soon Blake too had a smile on her face.

She sighed, and then said, "Guys … I'm sorry. I've been really … preoccupied with things lately, and I've been taking my frustration out on you guys. Is there any way you could forgive me?"

"Done and done!" exclaimed Yang, while Ruby nodded in agreement.

"BUT," continued Yang, capturing Blake's attention, "There is one small … _condition_ that I have."

Blake raised an eyebrow. _What could she possibly want?_

"You have to take all of us to that coffee shop you work at before Weiss leaves!"

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

An orange-haired man with a black bowler hat stood in a dark alleyway, grumbling to himself. "Where the hell is that old geyser anyways? You think he'd show some respect and be on time when someone offers to help him out."

"Now now Roman, there's no need to get so worked up."

Roman rolled his eyes. He could recognize that sleazy old fake kindness from a mile away. "Kanou. What the hell do you want? I've got better things to be doing than sitting here talking to you."

Kanou raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I'm sure! You must be incredibly busy as a high ranking executive of Aogiri Tree, no?" he mocked.

Roman fumed, slamming his fist into the wall behind him. "You just shut up doctor. I'm an A rank ghoul, which is better than you can say of either of those half-breeds of yours."

"Well, at least they can release their Kagunes," he said, smiling.

Roman narrowed his eyes. _You know, I really don't understand this guy. He comes to me asking for a favor, and then mocks me while he asks? Most people would be polite when doing this, but of course this old geyser just can't be normal._

Roman brushed off the Doctor's insult. "Alright, let's just get to the point. What do you need me to do, so I can get you out of my hair and move on with my life?"

Kanou was silent for a second, as if pondering what to say. Clearly the doctor was deep in thought about something or other.

Roman gulped. If _Kanou_ wasn't sure how to proceed, then …

"I need you to take me to the One Eyed King," he said.

Roman's jaw instantly hit the proverbial floor. "You want me to WHAT?! Do you have ANY idea how much trouble I'd get in for doing something like that? I mean forget the King, if I bothered any of the top executives of Aogiri, they'd slaughter me!"

Kanou narrowed his eyes. "So you can't do it then?"

Torchwick sighed, loudly. _Well … I probably could, if I really wanted to. I mean, I definitely wouldn't be able to take him to the King, since even I don't know who it is. I doubt that anyone outside of Tatara, Noro, and possibly Eto know, so I'd have to bring Kanou to one of them. Most likely Tatara, since Noro creeps me out, and Eto's ... well, a kid. But even then, I could be punished for "wasting Tatara's time."_

Torchwick shuddered at what had happened the last time he had wasted that man's time. He wasn't about to do it again.

"Tell you what," he said. "I definitely can't take you to the One Eyed King, but I can take you to the second in command, Tatara. From there, he can probably take you to the King. The thing is, this had better be good, because the top executives of Aogiri don't mess around. If they aren't amused with your proposal you'll probably be eaten, as will I."

Torchwick narrowed his eyes. "Say, what exactly DO you want from Aogiri?"

Kanou chuckled. "Why, I just want a better laboratory and more test subjects," he said.

Roman raised an eyebrow. "And in return? They aren't just going to give you that for free. What do you plan to give them in return?"

Kanou smiled sociopathically. "What to I plan to give them? Well, the answer to that is quite simple, actually. I intend to provide Aogiri with an army ...

 **OF ONE EYED GHOUL SOLDIERS."**

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

"Do you guys see it? Because I don't see any coffee shops nearby. I see tons of other stores, but no coffee shop," Yang said.

"Yeah, I don't see anything either," Weiss said. "Are you sure we went the right way, Blake?"

Blake rolled her eyes. _Of course Weiss would ask something like that._

"Guys, no offense, but I've been working at this coffee shop for years now, so I'd like to think I know how to find it," Blake said.

"Oh, oh! Is it that one? Is it that one?" Ruby asked, jumping up and down, pointing to a coffee shop down the street.

Weiss huffed. "Don't be silly Ruby, that hole in the wall can't even be called a shop."

Blake gave Weiss a deadpan stare. "Actually, that's it. That's the place I work at."

Weiss blushed in embarassment. "Um … I, uh … what I mean to say, is that … it looks so good that it's even more than a shop?"

Ruby, Blake, and Yang simultaneously facepalmed. _That had to be the worst recovery I've heard in my life_ , Blake thought to herself.

Yang put an arm around her teammate. "Leave the sly comments to me, hun," she said.

The four of them stopped at the front door. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Yang exclaimed.

Blake sighed. She trusted her friends … but she still wasn't sure if this was the best idea.

She shook her head. _No, it'll be fine. I need to stop worrying so much …_ she said to herself.

Bursting through the door, Blake and her friends walked in. "Manager?!" she called.

A tall, thin old man with swept back white hair entered the room. He smiled warmly. "So you're Blake's friends," he said.

"Welcome to Anteiku."

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Torchwick tapped the railing behind him impatiently. He still wasn't sure how to feel about Kanou's plan. I mean, yeah it sounded cool if it worked out, but … Tatara would have his head if it didn't work out. Or rather, Tatara would have if head if he was lucky. If he was unlucky, and Tatara was in a bad mood, things could get much worse.

"Torchwick," came a calm, but firm voice from around the corner. The man had short, white hair; cold, red eyes; and are a red iron mask over his mouth. Torchwick gulped. There was nobody in Aogiri Tree quite as scary as Tatara when you came right down to it … although Noro could be pretty creepy as well at times.

"Make it quick. I have tasks to complete for the King."

Tatara eyed him expectantly. "Well, actually … it's not me who wants to talk to you, but him," Torchwick signaled to Kanou and his assistants to come out of the darkness.

Tatara raised an eyebrow. "Two one eyed ghouls and a human? Normally Aogiri has strict rules against allowing foreigners, specifically humans, into its headquarters. But I'll make an exception this once, since you've caught my attention."

Tatara cracked his neck. **"Just be sure not to lose it,"** he said in controlled anger.

Torchwick shuddered. The worst thing about Tatara was his unflappable demeanor. No matter how mad he got, he never really raised his voice, or showed any emotion.

Kanou, of course, had no reaction to Tatara's threat. He was sure the Ghoul before him was strong, but he wasn't interested in a pure blood. No, he was far more interested in the One Eyed King, and the experiments to come, should Aogiri choose to employ his services.

"My proposition is quite simple," Kanou replied. "I am a nothing more than a mere doctor. I only wish to be provided with adequate facilities to conduct my research, and healthy test subjects upon which to conduct my experiments. You understand, no?"

Tatara nodded, indicating for him to go on. Kanou smiled. "So, my proposition is as such. You will provide me with the tools necessary for me to conduct my experiments, and I will provide you with an army of one-eyed ghouls, possessing the strongest regeneration abilities and Kagune versatility ever seen before. Aogiri Tree could become the most powerful organization in all of Vale, and surpass even the CCG in power with my assistance."

Tatara was silent for a minute. Then, he replied, "Do not be so full of yourself in thinking we need worthless trash like you to complete our objective," he said. "However … The King would certainly be interested in hearing out the details of your plan, so I will take you to … _him."_

Kanou smirked victoriously. Everything was going according to plan.

Tatara began walking back from the direction he came, and signaled Kanou to follow him. Kuro and Shiro moved to come as well, but Tatara held up a hand, stopping them

"Only the Doctor may come to meet the King. Nobody else,"he said.

Normally, Kuro and Shiro would have objected, and insisted that they accompany Kanou, but there was something distinctly terrifying about the Aogiri second-in-command that made them keep their silence.

"Oh, and one more thing," Tatara said. The Ghoul's eyes turned black and red as his Kakugan activated.

 **"** **None of what we discussed leaves this room."**

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Kanou walked with Tatara for what seemed like 10 minutes down a long passageway. _This is where the King lives?_ he thought to himself. It seemed so isolated from the rest of the buildings in the base.

 _Then again,_ he said, _The King probably purposefully keeps himself isolated from the rest of the organization, so as to hide his true identity. A ruler in the shadows instills far more fear than a ruler that can be clearly seen and identified._

That would explain why Tatara hadn't allowed Kuro and Shiro to come with them to meet the King.

The two of them stopped momentarily before a large hall.

"This is it," Tatara said bluntly, signaling to enter the massive chamber. Kanou couldn't help but admire the size and architecture of the building they were now inside.

"Eto," Tatara said. A petite girl with green hair, who was wrapped in bandages moved her head ever so slightly in acknowledgement.

"Yes?" she answered, hair obscuring her eyes.

"I've brought you a rather … interesting visitor," he said.

Eto sniffed the air in front of her. "Oh, a human? How … amusing," she said.

Kanou looked around the room in confusion. "I don't understand," he said. "Where is the One Eyed King of Aogiri?"

The girl chuckled ever so softly in response to Kanou's remark. Slowly, the chuckle soon grew louder and louder, until it became an average laugh, and from there grew even larger, soon it echoed throughout the hall, unnaturally loud.

The girl looked up, revealing a single, lone Kakugan in her right eye.

 **"** **YOU'RE LOOKIN' AT HER."**

 **.**

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 **Author's Note:**

Lots of things happening this chapter! Blake working at a coffee shop, introduction to Torchwick, the One Eyed King's Identity revealed (although I'm sure you guys already knew that xD), and Kanou potentially working with Aogiri Tree! What does it all mean?! Hmmm ... I wonder ... Oh and also, a note on Kanou btw, I realize that Kanou didn't join Aogiri Tree until later on in the Manga, but I'm changing things up here. You'll see why later on.


	8. Chapter 6: Ghoul

**Minor Story Change:** Super minor thing here, but the ghoul **Black Ember** mentioned briefly in the character data page has had her name changed to **Nightflare** , just because I thought it sounded better. She will have a VERY important role later on.

 **Author's Note:** No comments on the actual story :P. What I do have to say, however, is that I'm sorry for the short chapter. The next one will be up tomorrow so don't worry. I just would rather update consistently than release one massive chapter at a time, if you guys know what I mean. Although if you guys prefer otherwise let me know and I'd be happy to change things up!

 **Cover Art:** Daily reminder to check out **ghoul_edits** (the guy who made the cover pic for this story) on instagram for amazing art!

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the series depicting in this story, nor any of the characters, etc. In fact, I own nothing xD.

 **Time Break: ... ... ... ... ... ...  
** **Bold text: GHOUL VOICE  
** _Italics: INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves; also used occasionally for EMPHASIS when characters are speaking_

* * *

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

 **Chapter 6: Ghoul**

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"OW!" Ruby cried out in pain, nearly dropping the cup in her hands. The coffee was scalding hot!

"I told you to wait till it cooled down, Ruby," Blake said, sipping her coffee.

"Thenf how comf vyour drinking vyours alreavy?" Ruby replied, unable to speak clearly with her burnt tongue.

Blake chuckled. "I guess I'm just used to it."

Moments later, the old man who had greeted them earlier stopped by their table. "How is everything?" he asked. The man had a kind face with a gentle demeanor, and Ruby couldn't help but feel at home around him.

Blake smiled from ear to ear. "It's great Mr. Yoshimura! I just wish I could make a cup of coffee as good as yours …"

Yang punched her teammate lightly on the shoulder and put her arm around her. Blake nearly dropped her coffee and proceeded to give Yang a deadpan stare. "Well you know what they say, boring people make boring drinks," she teased.

Ruby and Weiss braced themselves for the grumpy response they had become so accustomed to ever since the semester began. They were shocked, however, when Blake just laughed in response.

It wasn't a fake laugh, or an awkward laugh, or a saracastic laugh. No, rather it was a _genuine_ laugh and for the first time in months it looked as though Blake were truly happy.

 _She seems so … at home here,_ Ruby said to herself. Across from her, Blake was _actually_ laughing and enjoying herself, which seemed like a rarity nowadays. They had grown so used to Blake's grumpy demeanor, that it almost seemed out of place for her to be acting like this. Ruby couldn't help but smile at the sight before her.

For the first time in months Team RWBY was truly united.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

"Blake," came a smooth voice from the other end of the room, interrupting the four girls in the midst of their conversation.

Blake rolled her eyes. _Of course he has to come and ruin things._

A hazlenut-haired man wearing the typical Anteiku serving uniform walked up to their table.

Adjusting his glasses, he said, "So these are your friends. As expected they're unimpressive."

Yang was about to utter a particularly nasty insult in response, when Blake said, "Just ignore him. He always acts like this."

The young man raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and you're one to talk? You've been acting quite grumpy yourself ever since Kaneki left," he said.

Blake glared at Nishiki in anger. "I thought I already told you not to mention that idiot's name in my presence, Nishiki."

Nishiki's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized Blake, mulling over how to respond.

"You know, you can't live your entire life being angry at him and dwelling on the past," he said. "At some point you need to move on."

And with that, Nishiki walked away, leaving the girls to themselves.

Ruby couldn't explain it, but although the way they were speaking had made it seem like they hated each other, both Blake and this Nishiki man possessed a degree of … respect, almost, for one another. While he had been a bit of an asshole in their conversation, Nishiki genuinely seemed concerned for Blake's well-being and her relationship with this _Kaneki_ person.

Yang smirked. "So Blake … who exactly is this Kaneki guy? Your boyfriend?"

Blake blushed and said, "I … damnit Yang, i already told you he's not!"

"Oh. So more of a casual thing then?" Yang asked.

Blake blushed even harder and the other two members of RWBY laughed in response to Yang's question.

"In all seriousness though, Blake, who is he?" Weiss asked. The heiress glanced at her friend with uncertainty. "I can't pretend to know what happened, or what you're going through, but we're your friends, Blake, and if there's anything you need to get off your chest we're here for you!"

Yang nodded profusely. She couldn't believe the Ice Queen had actually said something that wasn't stuck up for once, but nonetheless she agreed with everything Weiss had said.

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang looked at their friend expectantly. Blake was silent for a few moments, before answering:

"He's just … a friend who went down a path he shouldn't have."

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

"Thanks again, Mr. Yoshimura," Blake said, waving goodbye to the manager. He returned her smile, then went back to his duties inside the shop.

As they exited Anteiku, Ruby's mouth nearly dropped open when she saw that for one, it was snowing lightly, but more importantly the sun had already set! _Just how long were we in there for?_

The four girls then began the long walk back to Beacon. They didn't talk much on the journey, mostly because all of them were tired. It was surprising how draining sitting in a coffee shop, meeting and talking with people could be.

Their silence, however, was broken as they neared Beacon by none other than Blake.

"Guys," she said, stopping abruptly.

Weiss, Yang, and Ruby stopped as well, all looking at her expectantly.

"There's something the three of you should know," she said.

Blake took a deep breath. Her mind was racing, and her heart beating a million times per minute. _Do I really want to do this? What will they think of me? What if …_

Blake shook her head. _No, this is the right thing to do. I have to tell them … or we'll never truly be friends._

Weiss gave her friend a concerned look."Blake, what's wrong?"

Steeling herself, Blake said firmly, "The truth is … I am a-"

Before Blake could finish her sentence a massive red tentacle appeared from nowhere and slammed into the side of her face, knocking her unconscious and sending her into the wall of a nearby store.

Ruby's eyes widened in horror. "BLAKE!" Weiss screamed, rushing to help her friend.

She was stopped, however, when the red tentacle reappeared and slashed her in the stomach. Blood spurted along the ground from Weiss' wound as she fell unconscious.

Ruby and her sister watched in horror as a tall, imposing figure emerged from the darkness of night. He had short white hair, a large white robe, a red mask over his mouth, and worst of all, black eyes with red irises.

 **A Ghoul had come for them.**

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	9. Chapter 7: R WBY

**Author's Note:** WARNING this chapter is GRAPHIC. As will be the next few chapters (perhaps even worse). Rating has officially been changed to M. Also, I just wanna remind you guys that Ruby doesn't have Crescent Rose atm. You'll see why I mentioned that in a bit. Enjoy! :D

 **Cover Art:** Daily reminder to check out **ghoul_edits** (the guy who made the cover pic for this story) on instagram for amazing art!

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the series depicting in this story, nor any of the characters, etc. In fact, I own nothing xD.

 **Time Break: ... ... ... ... ... ...  
** **Bold text: GHOUL VOICE  
** _Italics: INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves; also used occasionally for EMPHASIS when characters are speaking_

* * *

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

 **Chapter 7: R | WBY**

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Tatara was annoyed, to say the least.

When Kanou had told Eto about his plan to create an army of hybrid ghouls for Aogiri, Eto had been ecstatic. Which wasn't much of a surprise, since she herself was a one eyed ghoul, so the prospect of having more one eyed ghouls amused her.

However, while Tatara understood Eto's decision and would abide by it no matter the circumstances, he still didn't like the prospect of working with a human. The ghoul had developed a deep mistrust of humans after his time in Atlas.

Nonetheless, Eto had agreed to provide Kanou with the resources he needed: test subjects, a better laboratory, equipment, etc. on the grounds that he provide soldiers for Aogiri. Which was all good and well. Until, of course, Eto had put Tatara in charge of retrieving test subjects for Dr. Kanou.

Almost immediately Kanou had asked the second in command to go after a certain girl, ranting that she was essential to his experiments by virtue of surviving some rare disease. Normally Tatara would just give a minor task like this to one of his subordinates, but he and Eto had to make sure that news of Kanou's affiliation with Aogiri did not reach the rest of the organization's ears. More than a few Ghouls would be very uncomfortable at the prospect of working with a human.

He could have given the job to Torchwick, but that moron would probably find some way to crew things up, so in the end he had decided to go after the girl himself. And that, ultimately, was the reason for his annoyance.

The idea of working _for_ a human absolutely disgusted him, even if it was for the benefit of the organization. He considered himself a loyal member of Aogiri and would never defy orders once they were given to him, but that didn't stop him from feeling annoyance from time to time.

"I'll just have to make this quick," he muttered to himself.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Tatara eyed his targets from atop a nearby building. They seemed to be four girls, for the most part small of stature - one with pure black hair, the other with white, another with blonde, and then finally his target: a petite girl with red and black hair.

Tracking the girls had been fairly straightforward, since the snow had provided him good cover. But also, they seemed incredibly young and inexperienced when it came to combat-related matters.

The white-haired ghoul sighed. He had no qualms killing humans, but that didn't mean he went out of his way for it. Especially when they were defenseless little girls.

Then, suddenly, the group stopped moving. One of the girls stood apart from the others and appeared to be saying something.

Seeing his chance, Tatara jumped down from the building and released his Kagune, slamming it into the black-haired female's face and killing her upon impact.

Or rather, it would have killed her if she were a normal human, but Tatara felt some unexpected resistance. _It would seem this one is a ghoul,_ he said to himself, as he watched her fly into the side of a building across the street. She would probably survive the injury, but Tatara highly doubted she would regain her consciousness any time soon.

Cracking his neck, Tatara shot his Kagune forward in an attempt to skewer the white-haired one. She managed to move out of the way at the last second, but didn't avoid the hit entirely and took a savage slash to the stomach, which knocked her unconscious.

Tatara then emerged from the shadows with his hands behind his back, the tip of his Kagune pointed at the girls menacingly.

 _The rest of these three are normal humans, it would appear,_ he said to himself. That was good. It would save him any more trouble.

The blonde one then gathered what bit of courage she had left, and stood in front of his target. "I won't let you hurt my sister," she said lowering into a fighting stance.

Tatara smiled amusedly. "Very well," he said.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Yang grimaced. _This isn't good,_ she said internally. _Ice Queen's out for the count, and Blake got smashed into the side of a wall. Even if I'm able to beat him … then I'll need to get the two of them to a hospital ASAP._

Also, though Yang would never admit it to herself, she was absolutely terrified.

The Blonde rushed towards her opponent, and as she did the bracelets on her wrist expanded to cover the entirety of her forearm. Tatara raised an eyebrow as she did so, as if to say, _That's not a smart move, girl._

Jumping into the air, Yang yelled, "Die you bastard," and punched at him with Ember Celica. As she did, an orange-yellow blast emitted from her weapon, hitting the Ghoul in his face.

Tatara didn't even _flinch_.

As soon as she had fired off her weapon, the ghoul whipped his Kagune around and stabbed through Yang's stomach.

Yang screamed and arched her neck in pain. Tatara then yanked back his Kagune and Yang fell to the ground, vomitting a pool of blood onto the pavement before her. Her consciousness faded in and out.

A store window shattered somewhere nearby.

"Now then," Tatara said, raising his Kagune in preparation to slice Yang's head off.

Before he could do so, however, the ghoul glimpsed a flash of rose petals as Ruby appeared at his left side, a piece of broken glass in her hand. Tatara's eyes widened. _She's fast!_ he exclaimed.

Reaching back, Ruby stabbed the ghoul through his eye with the shard of glass. Blood sprayed everywhere, clouding her vision, but Ruby allowed herself to relax the second she felt her makeshift weapon sink into the enemy's body, and re-emerge out the back of his head.

 _It's over,_ she said to herself.

Which would have been an accurate statement, had she been fighting a normal Ghoul.

Ruby's eyes widened as a hand reached through the spray of blood and closed around her neck, crushing her throat. Ruby tried to scream, but the pressure around her windpipe was too much. She watched in horror as the Ghoul pulled the shard of glass out from his eye, and the massive wound on his face mended itself.

Tatara looked at the weapon disinterestedly. "I hope you didn't think you'd be able to kill me with a move like that," he said.

Ruby looked on in fear. _Am I … going to die here?_ she asked herself. Truth be told, she was terrified at the prospect of dying.

"This is going to hurt," the Ghoul said to her. " **A lot."**

Faster than the eye could see, Tatara whipped his right arm, and using the shard of glass slashed through Ruby's arm at the elbow. Unfortunately for Ruby, the glass was ragged, so it didn't cut through her arm in a single, clean motion. The result was that the arm still dangled, gruesomely at that, by a small strand of skin and flesh from the upper part of the her limb.

Ruby gave a muffled scream, and tears filled her eyes. The pain was nearly unbearable, by far the most she had ever felt in her short life

However, before she could continue to think about the fact that she had just lost her arm, Tatara chopped her in the side of her neck with the same arm, knocking her unconscious. He then sliced off the rest of his target's arm.

The ghoul eyed the appendage on the ground before him.

The reason he had cut off the girl's arm was to make it look as though she were dead, so as to keep the CCG from finding out what was happening. Granted, it was far from a failsafe measure, and even if the CCG did find out then it would be no big deal, but if people saw an arm on the ground after a Ghoul attack they would inevitably jump to conclusions that the girl had been eaten. Especially since the manner in which her arm had been cut off was not with a Kagune, but rather with a piece of glass, so there was a chance the investigators would mistake it for a bite or rip wound.

The CCG had always seen Ghouls as monsters with uncontrollable appetites, and Tatara intended to use that against them here.

As he looked at the girl before him, Tatara thought, _She's talented. Normally a piece of glass wouldn't harm a Ghoul, but she targeted the one spot at the bottom of the eye where a Ghoul can, under the right circumstances, be injured by normal weapons._

 _If we can break her sanity she would be a valuable asset to Aogiri Tree._

Throwing the girl's unconscious body over his shoulder, Tatara looked at her teammates before him. He considered killing them for a brief moment, but deemed it unnecessary, and walked away from the bloody mess he had left.

 **.**

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 **Review Responses**

 **Note:** For the most part, I'm only going to be responding to reviews that I think ask questions or bring up points that are important to the story. Otherwise, I'll just be using the built-in review response system.

 **FineChyna:** So first of all, thank you SO much for the reviews and the help. I appreciate it! :D

Also since you brought up the three tombstones in chapter 1, I'll go ahead and talk about them for a bit. First off, I'd like to point out that there is already one tombstone at Cliffside Altar. Secondly, while I do intend for there to be some major deaths, I HATED how Akame Ga Kill (phenomenal anime/manga for those of you unfamiliar with it) killed off every main character. Killing off characters once in a while is okay, but spamming it and killing off ALL the main characters is imo NOT okay. And that's all I have to say on that for now :P

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Believe me when I say things are about to get REALLY intense :)


	10. Chapter 8: The King's Sister

**Author's Note:** Shit's about to get REAL guys. Huge turning point in the story! Also, WARNING. The next few chapters, this one included, might be a little jarring. I mean, it isn't THAT bad, but just be warned. You'll see what I mean more as you read it. Enjoy! :D

 **Ghoul Biology:** _Kakugan_ refers to a "ghoul eye," and _Kakuhou_ is the organ that produces the _Kagune_.

 **Important Character Note on Ruby:** Just to set things up a bit here, in the opening scene Ruby is around 6-7 years old. The reason she's asking her mother why she died is because she's just a kid, and she doesn't understand why her mother had to die. Another thing I want to add is that Rooster Teeth has indicated time and time again that Ruby feels more devastated about her mother's death than she lets off (just read the lyrics to Red Like Roses Part II, for instance). In essence, this scene at the beginning tries to capture these feelings.

 **Cover Art:** Daily reminder to check out **ghoul_edits** (the guy who made the cover pic for this story) on instagram for amazing art!

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the series depicting in this story, nor any of the characters, etc. In fact, I own nothing xD.

 **Time Break: ... ... ... ... ... ...  
** **Bold text: GHOUL VOICE  
** _Italics: INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves; also used occasionally for EMPHASIS when characters are speaking_

* * *

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

 **9 Years Ago**

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

Ruby stood at the edge of Cliffside Altar, a sight she had become all too accustomed to lately.

Tears were flowing from her eyes. It had been months since her mother had died, but still, each and every time she came out to her mother's grave the youth would sob uncontrollably.

"MOM!" she cried, as she fell to her knees. "Why?! Why did you have to leave me all alone! I'm so _lonely_ without you."

The sobbing continued. _I'm all alone. I'm all alone without anyone else in the-_

Ruby felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw her sister's face, a concerned look in her eyes.

"You okay sis?" she asked. Ruby shook her head.

Yang sighed and sat by her sibling, visibly saddened. While their mother's death hadn't affected her as much as it did Ruby … she had still loved her stepmom dearly, and couldn't help but feel sad every time she thought of her.

"I … I'm not gonna say that you shouldn't be sad, Ruby. We all feel that way when we lose someone we love. It's okay to cry, and it's okay to be sad."

Ruby wiped her eyes, tears abating somewhat at the comforting of her sister. "I miss her Yang," she said.

"Yeah, I do too," she replied. "But … there's one thing you're wrong about."

"You're NOT alone, Ruby."

.

.

.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

 **Chapter 8: The King's Sister**

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

Ruby awoke with a start, breathing heavily. _Where am I?_ she asked, looking around. The room seemed to be a large hall of sorts, littered with dozens of pillars that supported a high, domed ceiling.

Then, her eyes widened as she remembered what happened last night. As they were walking back from Anteiku, Blake had suddenly stopped, claiming she had something to confess to them. But before she could say anything they were attacked ... **by** **a Ghoul.**

Ruby shivered. She thought that the Ghoul would eat her, but for whatever reason it decided not to. All she could hope for now was that her friends had somehow survived the attack. Though she had her doubts, since all of their injuries had been pretty severe.

A tear trickled down Ruby's cheek. _Don't die on me guys … please, I can't afford to lose anyone else!_

Wiping her eyes, Ruby attempted to get up off the floor, but realized almost immediately that her arms and legs were shackled to the ground.

 _What? Why am I ..._

A look of profound horror crossed her face. She had no idea what was going on, but she knew it couldn't be good.

Ruby reached up and scratched her right eye, as she considered her options.

 _I could just wait here for someone to find me … I mean Weiss_ does _work for the CCG now, so there's a good chance they would come after me. But that Ghoul was INSANELY strong! Could Weiss handle something like that? Could SHINOHARA even handle something like that?_

Ruby shuddered. She was incredibly scared. Horrified. Terrified. Separated from her friends and all alo-

 _You're NOT alone, Ruby._

Yang's words echoed in her mind.

 _She's right,_ Ruby said, steeling herself. _I'm not alone. They WILL come for me, I just need to make sure I do all I can to get out of here in the meantime._

Taking a look at the chains that bound her, Ruby immediately realized that they were made of a substance akin to Quinque steel. They glowed with strange power, and Ruby could have sworn that her index finger went numb when she touched the outside of one of the shackles. Obviously the chains were made from some sort of special material, which made trying to break them pretty much out of the question, and meant that she either had to get her hands on the key or … find a way to cut off her limbs.

Ruby shuddered at the thought. She had already lost one arm, and wasn't about to-

 _Wait a second!_

Looking down, Ruby was shocked to see that both of her arms were intact. _But … how?!_ she exclaimed.

 _Did they re-attach it?_ she asked, smiling. _Maybe whoever had taken her …_ didn't _want to hurt her?_

Ruby reached up and scratched her right eye. The entire thing was very puzzling.

Then, as if on cue, the teen heard footsteps off in the distance. The sounds got closer, and closer, until a large man in a white robe appeared at the hall's entrance.

Ruby realized in horror that it was the same man who had captured her.

Cowering, Ruby backed up against the wall behind her. _Did he come to … finish the job?_ she asked to herself.

As he came closer, however, Ruby realized that he had a tray of food in his hands. Wordlessly, the ghoul stopped before her, left the tray on the ground, then turned around and walked away.

"Wait!" Ruby said. The man ignored her.

"Wait!" she yelled, louder. "What do you want with me?! WHY DID YOU ATTACK ME!" she yelled louder, but it was too late as the man had already left.

A terrible feeling manifested itself in Ruby's stomach. Now she wasn't just scared, she was CREEPED OUT. She had no idea what the hell was going on, nor why some random ghoul had captured her and taken her to this place.

Her stomach growled. _Well … at least I have some food now,_ the raven-haired youth said to herself.

Before her was a small sandwich and a plate of sliced apples, which wasn't the most appetizing meal, but it was sure as hell better than nothing. Grabbing the sandwich in her hands, she hungrily took a massive bite of it-

and vomited on the spot.

"WHAT the hell is this?" she cried between coughs. Ruby eyed the sandwich before her. It looked like a perfectly good sandwich and yet … tasted like _rubber_. No, it was _much_ _worse_ than rubber. More like a rotted fish whose guts had spoiled months ago.

"Yuck," Ruby said to herself. She considered taking another bite, but thought better of it and instead turned to the plate of sliced apples. _I hope this tastes okay …_

Taking one of the slices, Ruby bit into it and nearly proceeded to throw up yet again.

Spitting out the apple, the confused teen just stared at the food before her, dumfounded. _What in the world is going on?_ she asked herself.

Ruby reached up and scratched her right eye. She couldn't quite put her finger on it … but something or other was horribly wrong.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

"WAIT!" she screamed desperately. "WAIT! Come back! Why do you keep feeding me bad food! I don't understand," she said, breaking down into sobs at the end of her sentence.

It had been 4 days.

FOUR DAYS since she had first woken up and each day, three times a day, that same Ghoul would bring her food, leave it in front of her, then without saying a word walk away. Worse still, every time Ruby tried to eat she would immediately vomit out whatever food they had given her - be it sandwiches, chips, or even fruit.

Ruby reached up and scratched her right eye. Her stomach growled.

She was _so_ hungry. She had been hungry before in her life after not eating for a few hours, or even an entire day, but this was a completely different level of hunger. She needed something to eat _NOW_ or she felt like she would die.

As soon as she finished that thought, however, Ruby smelt a … _delicious …_ aroma coming from somewhere nearby. Closing her eyes, she sniffed the air around her.

Her mouth watered. _Whatever that is … I'm sure it tastes amazing._

Following her nose, Ruby tried to find the source of the smell. She realized pretty quickly, however, that it was closer than she thought.

Much closer, in fact.

Actually it was _herself_.

To be precise, her own hand.

Ruby's eyes widened. _What …_ Sniffing her hand, she once again felt the delightful aroma fill her nose. The smell was coming from a cut she had received on her thumb earlier in the day, after messing up opening a can of beans. Sticking out her tongue, she licked the half-open wound.

It tasted … _AMAZING._ Like her mom's baked cookies. No, _better_ than her mom's cookies. Ruby shuddered as the taste reverberated through her body.

She wanted more.

No, she _needed_ more.

 _NO NO NO NO_ , she _needed_ more _NOW_.

The young girl eyed her thumb hungrily, and having lost most of her rationality to hunger, decided then and there that she would eat her thumb.

 _I mean, after all, it's just a thumb. It's no big deal if I lose it. What's a thumb in the larger span of things? Especially when I'm sure it would taste so … DELICIOUS._

Ruby took a deep breath, and then in one massive bite chomped off the entirety of her thumb.

A scream of pain echoed through the hall. Blood spurted from where Ruby had bitten off her finger, but the pain was soon overwhelmed by a _DELICIOUS_ sensation that saturated her mouth. It had been even tastier than the initial sample, almost as if the more she ate, the better it got.

Ruby eyed the rest of her hand longingly. Then, opening her mouth she prepared to bite it off in a single-

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," came a voice from across the hall. An old man with gray hair and a perversely gentle smile walked towards her. He was dressed in a pure white laboratory coat. "It's true that you'll be able to regenerate an injury like that, but in the long run if a Ghoul eats itself the effects can be incredibly detrimental."

Ruby cowered in face of the man. Something about him seemed … off. The way he spoke was so soft, and yet Ruby had never met anyone quite as scary as him in her life.

That is, until she heard another voice coming from her left.

 **"** **Ah come on Kanou, we should have starved her for a little longer,"** it said.

Kanou looked at the figure angrily, whom Ruby saw was a little girl garbed in a tattered maroon cloak and wrapped in bandages. She was sitting on a desk, swinging her legs back and forth, humming softly to herself.

When the ghoul spoke, her voice was playful - no different in tone from that of a normal girl, but there was something about the _way_ she spoke that seemed ruthless, psychotic, and above all, _sadistic_.

Ruby cowered in fear. She wanted to leave. She just wanted to leave and go back home. Tears filled her eyes.

"Eto," he said. "You may be the one who provided me with the laboratory and resources I have now, but I won't allow my creation to do any permanent harm to itself. Is that clear?"

Eto laughed - a laugh of sadism and borderline insanity. **"Oh, you're no fun doctor. Well fine then. Starving her was gonna get boring at some point anyways."**

Then Ruby, who had finally mustered up the courage to say something, said, "W-w-who … a-are you? W-what did you do to me?" she asked between sobs.

She reached up and scratched her right eye.

Eto cackled. **"It looks like the** ** _poor_** **girl hasn't realized yet. Why don't you show her then, doctor?"**

Kanou smiled as Eto tossed him a mirror. Ruby tried to move further back, but she was already up against the wall. There was a look of pure terror in her eyes.

"Ruby, dear," he said. "You're probably wondering … why haven't you been able to eat anything? Why did your thumb taste so good? _Why does your right eye keep itching?_ "

At his last remark, Ruby's eyes grew. _How could he possibly know that?_

Kanou's smile widened. "Well, the truth is quite simply, really."

He handed Ruby the mirror.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

A scream reverberated through the hall, echoing many times. It was closely followed by the sound of breaking glass, as Ruby dropped the mirror she had been holding. Her breath came in deep, shallow intervals.

 _NO!_

 _NO!_

 _NO NO NO NO NO NO **NO**!_

 _It can't be_ , she said to herself while sobbing.

The instant she picked up the mirror, she had glimpsed none other than a _kakugan_ in her right eye.

Which could only mean one thing.

" **You're a Ghoul,"** Eto said from beside her.

Still sobbing uncontrollably, Ruby stared at her with what was far beyond a look of terror at this point.

"I'm sure you're wondering to yourself," Kanou said. "How a human could turn into a Ghoul? Well, allow me to answer that question for you."

"You see, for years I have been experimenting, working tirelessly to create a true one eyed Ghoul through Kakuhou transplant surgery. Before you, I conducted over 200 surgeries, which resulted in 197 complete failures, 2 floppies, and one partial success."

"But even that single success did not possess the abilities I desired, and I began to lose hope that I would ever be able to create a true one-eyed ghoul. Perhaps they could only be created naturally, is what I started to think. But then, Ruby, _you_ came along."

Ruby's eyes were wide. She was hyperventilating and her heart was beating so fast that she could barely stay conscious, let alone think clearly.

Kanou looked at her and smiled sociopathically. "Do you want to know why I chose you, Ruby? Because you are a _survivor_ of ROS disease. Do you know what that means?"

Ruby said nothing. And even if she'd had the mental capacity to say anything at that moment, she probably wouldn't have.

"It means that you have an incredibly high resistance to RC cell side effects for a human. So of course, I was ecstatic when Tatara brought you back to my lab."

Eto was beginning to get impatient. _That damn doctor never stops talking_.

"Initially, I had intended to transplant the Kakuhou of an S class Ghoul into your body, but my initial tests indicated that you might be able to handle even more. And, Ms. Eto was kind enough to offer one of her Kakuhou sacs for the surgery. So, I performed the operation …"

"And was able to successfully transplant Eto's Kakuhou inside of you."

Ruby's horror intensified. _The organs of that …_ **monster** … _are inside of me?_

She stared at Eto with disbelief. The ghoul cackled, filling the hall with her laughter. Then, reaching up, she pulled back her hood and threw her mask onto the ground.

The girl behind the mask was green-haired, had soft features, and much like Ruby possessed a single Kakugan in her right eye.

But most of all the sadistic expression she wore was terrifying.

Dropping to her knees, Eto moved her face uncomfortably close to Ruby's until their foreheads were touching. Ruby tried to move away, but the Ghoul held her in place.

All the while, she never stopped laughing.

 **"** **Don't you see, Ruby! It's like we're …"**

 **"SISTERS!"**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 **Author's Note**

That was INCREDIBLY depressing to write. I feel really bad for Ruby :(, even though it's my fault she's going through this xD. Oh and one thing I do wanna say, is that I feel like there are enough insane characters in Tokyo Ghoul, so I'm NOT gonna make Ruby lose her SANITY or anything like that. I mean, there is a chance her personality might undergo some changes, but she's not gonna become a psychopath or anything like Eto is, so don't worry about that.

Also, I would like to point out before signing off that Ruby has the potential of Arima, AND the Kagune of Eto now. Which idk about you guys, but that sounds really OP to me.

Anyways, that's pretty much gonna do it guys, so thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed! :D


	11. Chapter 9: Bring it On

**Author's Note:** WARNING: This chapter is very gruesome and slightly disturbing. I myself felt incredibly depressed after writing it. With that said, I PROMISE you will not regret reading it to the end. All I have to say, is that Ruby is a BADASS :).

Also a quick note on this opening flashback. I can't say what it is without spoiling the story, but what I will say for now is that it's going to be a major plot point WAY later in the story :D

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the series depicting in this story, nor any of the characters, etc. In fact, I own nothing xD.

 **Time Break: ... ... ... ... ... ...  
** **Bold text: GHOUL VOICE  
** _Italics: INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves; also used occasionally for EMPHASIS when characters are speaking_

* * *

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

 **Chapter 9: Bring it On**

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

 _Slowly and carefully, the doctor cut a line through the skin of his patient's back. Kanou had steady hands, but even the slightest mishap in an operation like this would mean certain failure.  
_

 _Wiping a drop of sweat from his brow, Kanou put down his scalpel and grabbed a pair of forceps, which he used to gently pull back and open up the girl's back. The moment he did so, however, he nearly dropped the forceps in shock._

 _"That's ... impossible," he breathed. Never in his medical career had he ever seen anything like this._

 _There, inside the body of Ruby Rose, was a-_

 **"Doctor Kanou!"** came the unmistakable voice of Eto, snapping him back to the present time.

"Yes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

With barely contained glee, Eto held up a pair of pliers and a handful of needles. **"I was wondering if it was okay if we performed some _tests_ on our patient ..."**

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

"What the HELL is that supposed to mean?" Yang exclaimed. She pounded a fist on the desk in front of her.

"You assholes are giving me this 'there's nothing more we can do' crap while my _sister_ is out there somewhere, probably being experimented on! And this … _this_ is all you can say?"

Shinohara sighed. The blonde had been yelling at him for the past hour, and while he was frustrated, it was not so much with her, but rather with the entire situation. Her anger was perfectly understandable. He just wished they could do more.

The Special Class buried his head in his hands. Ruby's kidnapping was not good news, both from a personal and a professional point of view. Besides being an incredibly kind-hearted girl, Qrow and Yang had informed him that Ruby was a survivor of ROS disease, which left open the possibility that Ruby had been kidnapped for research and experimentation purposes. And, as far as Shinohara knew, the only ghoul organization that would do something like that was Aogiri Tree. Furthermore, the girls' description of their attacker closely resembled the organization's second in command, and if he had come to personally kidnap Ruby ... then it only meant bad news.

"YANG!" Qrow yelled from behind her. As per usual, he was leaned against the wall in a sloppy, half-drunken manner. "Show some respect, damnit! When he said 'there's nothing more we can do,' he _meant_ it. First class Fura was dispatched the second we heard the news about Ruby's disappearance. The thing is, whoever kidnapped her is a professional, because he left virtually no trace. I know you're mad, but if you can stay calm and just have some faith, we'll find her."

That last part was a complete lie. Truth be told, Qrow believed at this point there was a pretty good shot that Ruby was beyond saving.

Though he wouldn't show it, since he didn't want Yang to feel any worse than she already did, the news about Ruby had greatly saddened Qrow. If there was one person in this entire world who _didn't_ deserve for something like this to happen to her, it was Ruby.

Yang sighed. There were tears in her eyes. Tears of anger, sadness, despair. Somewhere deep inside, she knew the possibility of Ruby being dead was very real. If she could exchange places with her sister right now … she would do it in a heartbeat.

Last night, after they had been attacked by the Ghoul, Anteiku's manager had found them and immediately called an ambulance. Luckily, Blake's wounds were superficial and she recovered the quickest of the three. Weiss' wounds were also not so bad, and she was pretty much healed at this point.

Yang, however, had not been so lucky. Truth be told, even sitting in front of Shinohara right now was incredibly painful, since after all, she had pretty much been stabbed through the stomach by a massive Kagune. However, if it was for her sister then she could endure any pain.

"No Qrow, you're wrong," Shinohara said. He gave Shinohara a puzzled look. "Qrow, I want you to run down to storage and get Arata for me. We're going to get your niece back, and I'm going to personally lead the investigation."

Yang and Qrow gaped at Shinohara. "Wait a sec Shino, you sure about that? You're gonna use ARATA out there? Do you remember what happened the last time you used that thing? It nearly consumed you alive!"

"It doesn't matter," Shinohara said. "We'll do what it takes to find her."

Shinohara angrily slammed his fist on the desk in front of him. _I guess … my wish for you, Ruby, was just destined not to happen._

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

An unpleasant _crunch_ echoed through the air.

"AAHHHH!" Ruby screamed.

Brief silence.

Then, another _crunch_.

"AAAHHHHH!" Ruby screamed, as another of her fingers was clipped.

A clock ticked nearby.

 _Crunch._

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Ruby screamed again.

...

Ten times.

TEN TIMES Tatara clipped off a different one of her fingers. And ten times she screamed, louder each time.

After revealing she was a Ghoul, Kanou expressed interest in performing what he called "regeneration tests" on his newest patient and Eto thought it would be a "fun" idea to clip off her fingers. As a result, multiple times a day for the past few days, Tatara had come in and clipped off each of her fingers one by one, using a pair of quinque-steel enhanced pliers made by Dr. Kanou.

The first day he came only three times, but since then he had been visiting her more and more often. Today was the 6th time - more than any of the previous days.

However, as painful as getting her fingers chopped off was, it was _far_ from the worst thing Eto and Tatara had done to her.

Painfully, Ruby recalled the very first day of her torture. At the start of that day, Eto had approached her with a handful of needles and her usual sadistic grin. Then, in what was undoubtedly the most painful experience of Ruby's life ...

She had sewn the 15 year old's eyes permanently open with sharp needles.

The physical pain was _unbearable_. Even though Eto had sewn her eyes days ago, they _still_ hurt badly. In fact, if anything the pain in her eyes had only gotten worse, because every time Tatara cut off her fingers she couldn't help but sob uncontrollably and reopen the wounds she received from Eto.

The mental torture, however, was _far_ worse. She couldn't blink, she could barely sleep, and worse still, with her eyes permanently open Ruby was forced to watch _everything_ that they were doing to her.

She tried many times to remove the needles from her eyes, but every time the pain was more than she could bear. Eto had placed them in such a way that if she ever attempted to take them out, it would cause severe bleeding and unimaginable agony.

As a result, she had no choice to sit with her eyes sewn open, which was slowly but surely causing her to lose sight of her sanity. All she heard was the ticking of the clock above her and all she felt was _pain_. Each second felt like an entire day and each minute over an eternity. Tatara told her she had only been imprisoned for a week, but with everything they were doing to her it felt more like a few _years_ had elapsed.

For the first time in her life, Ruby wanted nothing more than to die.

She gave a pained whimper as Tatara completed the final clipping.

 **"** **Disgusting,"** he said. **"To think that oaf Yamori actually enjoyed something like this."**

"I-I-If … If you don't like it," Ruby barely managed through pained sobs, "Th-Then why … why are you doing this to me?"

Tatara looked at the girl for a few seconds, before answering, "My personal feelings aren't relevant. When given an order by the King, I will carry it out."

And with that, Tatara swept up the pile of fingers in front of him, and walked away.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Shinohara walked down the hall at a breakneck speed. Beside him was a tall, young man with black hair and teal eyes.

"Amon," he said. The man nodded. "I know this is a bit sudden, but I'm going to introduce you to your new partner."

Amon's eyes widened. "A-already?!" he asked. "B-"

"No time for questions, Amon. I'll explain more in detail once we get there," he said. Amon shot his superior a concerned look. _I haven't seen Shinohara this worked up in a long time._

"For now, all you need to know is that a high-priority asset of the CCG was recently kidnapped. If the enemy is able to perform tests and experiments on her ... it could be bad news for us. We have to do all we can to get her back. Understood?"

Amon nodded in agreement.

Shinohara took out his scroll, and dialed a number. "Schnee!" he said firmly.

"Y-yes sir?" she asked, surprised at the uncharacteristic urgency in his voice.

"We're almost there. Is Arc with you?"

"Yes he is, sir!" she replied.

"Alright, we'll be down there momentarily. Qrow and Juuzou will be meeting us with a repaired version of your Quinque, as well as other munitions. The second everyone's gathered …

We'll begin the operation."

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Ruby cowered in fear as Tatara entered the room for the seventh time that day.

"N-n-no. P-please … I c-can't take anymore," she managed through her tears.

Tatara rolled his eyes. "Complaining isn't going to help your case," he said coldly.

Picking up the pliers, he walked towards the terrified girl.

Shaking her head repeatedly, Ruby exclaimed, "It's unbearable! There's no way anyone would be able to put up with something like this! Having your fingers clipped off one by one, every day, without ever being able to blink or sleep! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

At her last comment, Tatara paused in front of her. Then, to Ruby's shock he handed her the pliers.

"Go ahead," he said, holding out his hands. **"Clip them off."**

Ruby gaped openly at the Aogiri executive. _He wants me to … WHAT?!_

"I … n-no, I can't," she said. "I-I don't want t-"

 **"** **It wasn't a request,"** Tatara said, looking at her menacingly.

Ruby gulped. With shaking hands, she brought the pliers up to the white-haired Ghoul's hands. For whatever reason, even though this man had been torturing her, she felt extremely guilty for what she was about to do.

Nonetheless, the half-ghoul turned her head … and _clipped_ off Tatara's index finger. She then braced herself for the inevitable scream that would follow.

None came.

Ruby looked up at the Ghoul with wide eyes. To her shock, he seemed to have a disinterested look on his face. He raised an eyebrow, as if to say, _Well, are you going to continue?_

Staring at him straight in his eyes, Ruby proceeded to clip off his thumb. Again, nothing but silence.

Ruby would have understood if the Ghoul had shown some semblance of pain in his eyes, or let out a whimper or some sort of noise. But the thing is, it looked like he felt absolutely _nothing_. The look Tatara was giving her right now was the same look Blake had when reading a book she was getting bored of.

One by one, Ruby clipped off the rest of his fingers and as expected, not a single sound nor facial expression was made. After she was done, Tatara said, "I hope you're satisfied."

And then he walked off, leaving a dumbfounded Ruby with pliers in her hands.

 _What did I … JUST SEE?!_ she asked herself. _How could someone possibly have a pain tolerance that high? Was he tortured in the past?_

Ruby shook her head, deciding not to think of such morbid thoughts. Even though the situation she found herself in right now was probably just as morbid.

 _I wonder,_ the girl said as she looked at the pliers in her hands.

Ruby had an idea.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Weiss was … _uncomfortable,_ to say the least.

Why was she uncomfortable? Well, because of the clothing she was wearing.

The CCG had a strict formal dress code, meaning her old "combat skirt" was pretty much off limits. She had tried talking to Shinohara about making an exception, since she loved that outfit to death, but Shinohara had said that the chairman would have his head if he allowed anyone to violate the dress code.

So, she had gone and purchased formal clothing, with a dress skirt. Luckily, she was allowed to use whatever colors she wanted in her outfit, so the theme of her dress was essentially the same, but nonetheless it was _beyond_ uncomfortable.

Weiss sighed as she looked at Jaune. He hadn't gone quite as formal as she had, but still looked displeased with the outfit he was forced to wear.

"Sorry we're late," the distinctive voice of Shinohara said, before he and a very … handsome man with black hair and teal eyes walked in.

Shinohara looked at his watch and sighed. _Of course Qrow and Juuzou haven't arrived yet. I only hope Juuzou isn't giving him too much trouble …_

Clearing his throat, Shinohara said, "Arc, here's your weapon back. I think you'll enjoy the ... _upgrades_ we've added to it," he said.

Jaune grinned as the senior investigator handed him back Crochea Mors.

"Also, Weiss, I'd like to introduce you to your new partner: First Class Amon Koutarou. Amon, this is Rank 3 Weiss Schnee. The two of you will be working together from here on out."

Amon held out his hand, which Weiss graciously took. _Wow … I'm being partnered with a First Class Investigator already! It's like a dream come true,_ she said to herself, smiling.

"Jaune, unfortunately-"

"We're here," Qrow interrupted, barging in with a handful of weapons. "Sorry it took us so long. We had some … issues ... carrying all the weapons."

Shinohara nodded. "Where's Juuzou?"

"He's-"

A crash sounded outside the room, cutting Qrow off mid sentence. The squad rushed out to the hall, and was not surprised to see Juuzou on the floor, the weapons he had been carrying scattered all over the place. Shinohara facepalmed, and then moved to help his partner clean up the mess.

After they had gotten everything cleaned up and organized, Shinohara began briefing them on the mission.

"Alright, so here's the deal folks … as most of you know at this point, Ruby Rose, a student at Beacon Academy, was likely kidnapped by a high ranking executive of Aogiri Tree. For various reasons pertaining to her past, she is a high value asset to the CCG."

Pulling out his scroll, Shinohara projected a map of the area they were going to raid. "The six of us are going to be raiding a known base of Aogiri, and _capturing_ , not killing, but capturing Ghouls for interrogation so we can learn more about where they took her. The ghouls there shouldn't be anything higher than B class, but you would all do good to be on your toes. Once we've taken a prisoner, we'll interrogate him to learn more about Ruby's whereabouts. If we can't find anything out, then we'll just move on to the next hideout, and continue raiding hideouts until we find something. Understood?"

The investigators around him nodded profusely in agreement. "Oh and Jaune, I haven't introduced you to your partner yet, have I?"

Jaune shook his head. _I wonder what type of person he'll be … hopefully someone strong, kind, and helpful!_

"Your partner is Qrow," Shinohara said bluntly.

Jaune's eyes widened in horror. Qrow came up to him and rested and arm on his shoulder. "Believe me kid, I ain't pleased about it either, but orders are orders. Make sure you don't disappoint me."

The look of horror on Jaune's face intensified and Weiss flashed a sly smile at him. _Ha! That's too bad Jaune_. He jeered at her in response.

"Oh and also, I've got something for you Weiss," Shinohara said. Taking a suitcase from the desk, he opened it and pulled out a small object. The burly investigator then tossed it to Weiss. "We were able to get it fixed up for you."

She just stared at the small object in her hand. _What is … this?_

Shinohara chuckled. "You don't recognize it? It's Myrtenaster! We re-designed it so that you can fold it up and store it away easier. Press that button on the side and you'll see!"

Weiss did as Shinohara said, and to her shock the small white object before her folded out into her old weapon. Or rather, not entirely the same as her own weapon; it definitely looked sturdier and much more powerful than before. She grinned with barely contained glee.

Bowing before her superior, she gave him a curt, "Thank you sir."

Qrow rolled his eyes. _I swear half the time she acts like she's got a stick up her ass._

His expression darkened. _Just like SHE did._

Before he could sink into even darker thoughts, however, Shinohara's voice snapped him back to reality. "Focus, Qrow," he said. The associate Special Class nodded.

"We _must_ get Ruby back at all costs. The CCG will accept nothing less than absolute victory on this mission. Is that clear?"

"YES, SIR!" came everyone's answer.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Tatara scowled as he made his way to the room Ruby was being held in. He was starting to get annoyed, not only with the girl's screams, but also with the fact that he had to walk all the way over to the hall multiple times each day _just_ to clip off her fingers and then walk all the way back to take care of various administrative matters related to the organization. It was taking way from his efficiency as second in command to the point where he even considered protesting the matter to Eto.

Nonetheless, for the 20th time since Ruby arrived, Tatara made his way to the hall that had now become Ruby's torture room. However, upon opening the door to her prison, Tatara saw something that nearly made even him lose his unflappable demeanor.

There, on the ground in front of Ruby, were … _fingers_. Hundreds of them.

He stared at the grotesque pile in disbelief. _Did she …_

If she had done what Tatara had in mind then this girl was incredibly brave. Either that or just incredibly stupid.

Regaining his composure, Tatara walked over to Ruby. Unlike before, she didn't struggle or protest. Instead, she just stared at the ground, eyes hidden underneath her bangs.

When Tatara stopped in front of her, the girl wordlessly handed him the pliers. She then held out her left fist and with a metallic clang dropped all the needles that had been in her eyes onto the floor before her.

Tatara gaped at her from under his mask. For the first time in his life, he was genuinely shocked.

In a deliberate motion, Ruby brought her head up to meet her torturer's gaze. When their eyes met, Tatara couldn't explain it but she looked … older, perhaps?

"I hope you're prepared," he said.

She narrowed her eyes as if to say, _Bring it on_.

Grabbing her hand, Tatara took the pliers, braced himself for her scream, and then clipped off her index finger.

This time, however, it was Tatara's turn to be surprised at the lack of a scream.

Tatara's eyes widened. Ruby still had tears in her eyes, sure, but they were barely noticeable. And she was still in evident pain, but not _nearly_ as much as before. In the span of a single night, she had somehow managed to exponentially increase her pain tolerance.

 _She must have … clipped off her own fingers during the course of the night to get used to the pain. But even still … to improve this much in the span of half a day is unheard of! And how did she manage to pull the needles from her eyes?!_

Tatara clipped off another finger and _again_ nothing. Another, and another, and _another,_ but still nothing. She was still crying silently, but otherwise showed no emotion and not once broke eye contact with her torturer.

Tatara's eyes narrowed. _This girl … is INCREDIBLY dangerous._

 **.**

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 **Author's Note**

Alright we need to talk about this one. So I know what you guys are probably thinking, "Roshank you are a sadistic asshole and have a really fucked up mind." Yeah, I agree with that to some extent xD, but I just want to point out that all of the things happening to Ruby are drawn directly from the manga. Clipping fingers is something both Jason and (probably, judging from Takizawa's fingernails) Eto do, sewing eyes shut is something Eto did to Kanae in Tokyo Ghoul:re, and the stuff that happens to Ruby in the next couple chapters is exactly what Eto did to Takizawa. Well actually, what Eto did to him was a lot worse and I can't graphically describe those things without throwing up while writing this story, but nonetheless the point is that I didn't think of all these things; Ishida did. So blame Ishida, not me :P. In all seriousness though I hope this isn't too depressing. If it's too much for you guys let me know and I can change it. Even I personally find it depressing and sickening to the point where I can't eat while reading or editing my story.

Aaaaand that was like 10x as long winded as I wanted. I'll just leave it at this: if you guys could give me some feedback on this chapter, that'd be awesome! :D

Also just to clarify, Tatara is NOT sympathizing with Ruby or anything. He actually wants to kill Ruby, as you guys will find out next chapter. I just wanted to clarify that. I hope I didn't mislead you guys.

Another thing: The reason why Ruby is a "High Priority Asset" is because she survived ROS disease, and the CCG doesn't want Aogiri getting their hands on someone like that.

Oh and also, let's talk pairings! I already have some planned out, but I want to hear your suggestions. I mean granted, I haven't really fleshed out character relationships enough to make a firm decision, but I still wanna hear your thoughts. As for what I want with regards to pairings ... for the most part I sorta wanna mix them up between the verses, as in have some characters from RWBY paired with Tokyo Ghoul characters, but that definitely won't always be the case.

Otherwise, thanks again for tuning in, and have an awesome day! :D


	12. Chapter 10: More Disappearances

**Author's Note:** My bad for such a short chapter. Next one will be up very soon, I promise. Also, the chapters will start to get considerably longer from here on out; I'm thinking around 3000-4000 words on average as opposed to 1500-2000. Hope that's okay with you guys!

Also, there is a short 2-3 day timeskip between the past chapter and this one. In that time it's implied that Ruby was tortured more but was able to cope with it as well/even better than at the end of last chapter. Just wanted to make that clear.

Otherwise, I hope you all enjoy! :D

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the series depicting in this story, nor any of the characters, etc. In fact, I own nothing xD.

 **Time Break: ... ... ... ... ... ...  
Bold text: GHOUL VOICE  
** _Italics: INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves; also used occasionally for EMPHASIS when characters are speaking_

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 **Chapter 10: More Disappearances**

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"Eto," Tatara said.

The half ghoul turned to him in surprise. She was typing on her laptop and had an open bag of chips next to her.

"Oh, sorry Tatara! I didn't see you there," she said in a playful voice.

"How are things going with Ruby? Did she break yet?"

Tatara hesitated.

It had been 7 days since they began the torture and truth be told after what he had seen he wasn't sure if Ruby would _ever_ break. Actually, strike that, he was certain at this point that she would never break - at least not under the current methods they were using.

After all the torturing there were three things that Tatara had learned about her, and all of these things had made him realize that she was an incredibly dangerous person. If Ruby ever became their enemy, it would no doubt be trouble for Aogiri.

The first thing Tatara had learned was that the girl's capacity for hate was incredibly low. She _definitely_ hated Kanou, that much he was sure of. But to his shock, each and every time he tortured her, she looked him in the eyes with no semblance of hate _whatsoever_.

If the SS+ ghoul was being honest, it almost creeped him out. He had tortured numerous people in the past and all of them had shown at least some degree of hate towards him. To hate someone who hurt you was a natural reaction for most people. But she … for whatever reason, she felt none at all. He doubted that she even hated Eto, though perhaps feared her a good deal.

The second thing Tatara had learned was that Ruby was an incredibly quick learner and a fast improvisor. The way she adjusted to the pain of having her fingers chopped off was far too quick, and it pretty much meant any sort of physical torture was out of the question. She was also evidently a good fighter, which he had learned first hand in their initial battle.

The third and final thing he had learned during their sessions was the young girl had a group of incredibly close friends, and that was probably one of the reasons why she continued to show no signs of breaking. Most of the people he tortured were alone, or had already fallen into despair, but she hadn't yet. After the first few days the girl continued to show incredible strength.

It was for those three reasons that Tatara considered the half-ghoul a top-tier threat to Aogiri, and wanted to dispose of her immediately.

"We should kill the girl," he said, after a long silence. "Immediately."

Eto turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Ah, but that wouldn't be any fun!" she said, pouting. "Why do you say that?"

"Because she won't break," he responded simply.

Eto clucked in disappointment. "Hmmm, " she said aloud. "Perhaps physical torture isn't the best method, then …"

Eto was silent for a few seconds. Then:

"Tatara, does she have any close friends we can use to manipulate her?"

"Yes," the second-in-command responded. "Of that I am sure."

Eto snickered with barely contained glee. "In that case, here's what I need you to do …"

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

"Jaune, behind you!" Weiss yelled.

Jaune's eyes widened as he turned to see a Ghoul jumping at him with a crazed expression. Grimacing, he pulled a hand up to block the oncoming blow, then slashed the Ghoul across the chest.

It screamed in pain and fell to the floor.

Jaune eyed Crocea Mors with a pleased expression. He had to admit that Shinohara's upgrades were coming in handy.

Initially, Crocea Mors had been little more than a simple sword made of Quinque steel. It had no special offensive modes like Weiss' Quinque, nor did it have enhanced striking power, as Amon's and Shinohara's weapons did. As such, his Special Class superior had insisted they take the weapon to R&D to have it refitted and upgraded.

At first Jaune had opposed the idea. He didn't really know how to feel about modifying a family heirloom, but when Shinohara assured him that he wouldn't make any drastic changes in appearance, Jaune relented.

In hindsight, he was glad he did. The improved weapon had far greater striking power, comparable even to that of Shinohara's weapon - Demon Yamada. But what excited Jaune even more was the fact that according to Shinohara, it now had a few "tricks" up its sleeve, which the blonde couldn't wait to make use of.

Brandishing his Quinque, Jaune slashed at another Ghoul trying to skewer him from the side. His strike missed, but it put the Ghoul off balance, allowing him to stab it though the stomach. Blood spurted from the Ghoul's mouth as it coughed up blood, then crumpled lifelessly to the floor.

Jaune grinned. _Well, would you look at that. Maybe I'm more cut out for this investigator business than I-_

His thought was interrupted as a something screamed from behind him. Turning to the source of the noise, Jaune's eyes widened as he saw a female Ghoul jumping towards him. He tried to raise his weapon to block the blow, but was too late and she knocked him to the ground. Before he knew what was happening, she was straddling him and had both of his arms pinned to the ground.

Smiling sadistically, the Ghoul reached her head down in preparation to bite through the the middle of his neck. Her victim's eyes grew wide as he struggled, but to no avail.

 _No, damnit! I can't die here! Not no-_

Before Jaune knew what had happened, the Ghoul's head was separated from the rest of her body. She collapsed on top of him, spurting blood everywhere.

Coughing, Jaune sat up with a surprised expression. _What in the world?_

"I didn't realize you were into things that kinky, Jaune," a voice said from behind him.

Turning, Jaune saw Qrow staring at him with a raised eyebrow, bloody sword in his hand. Weiss rolled her eyes and Jaune's face reddened in embarrassment.

Qrow grinned. "Maybe we will get along after all."

Ignoring his superior, Jaune turned to Weiss and asked, "Where's Shinohara?"

"Right here," the man in question said, entering the destroyed room with a struggling Ghoul slung over his shoulder.

"No, please! I don't know anything, I promise! Please don't hurt me!" he yelled.

Shinohara ignored the Ghoul's pleas and flung his captive to the floor. He looked beat up pretty bad, but then again that was to be expected when fighting someone like Shinohara.

"Alright, I'm gonna ask you a few questions and you're gonna answer them, okay?" Shinohara asked. The Ghoul nodded in fear.

"First off, do you know of a girl named Ruby Rose?"

The Ghoul shook his head. From the look in his eyes Shinohara guessed that he was telling the truth, though he couldn't be certain.

"We believe that she has been kidnapped by Aogiri - _your_ organization. If you don't know where she is, then who can we talk to that would know?"

The Ghoul cocked his head thoughtfully. "Hmmm ... oh, you probably want Torchwick then! He may not be the strongest Ghoul, but when it comes to information and connections he's the go-to guy."

Shinohara raised an eyebrow. "Torchwick? As in Roman Torchwick, A class Ghoul and executive of Aogiri?"

The Ghoul nodded. "Yeah. I-I swear I have no idea where he is, though! Please believe me!"

Shinohara sighed. Once again, he couldn't be certain, but he suspected the Ghoul was telling the truth. For one, he doubted that someone this low on the ladder would know anything about the executives, and for two the man didn't seem like someone who could hid his true feelings.

Which meant, unfortunately, they would have to continue searching Aogiri hideouts until they found Torchwick.

"Alright," Shinohara said. "You can go now."

The Ghoul's eyes widened in surprise. Actually, _everyone's_ eyebrows widened in surprise, even Qrow's.

"Shino, we should kill him. He might bring information to the Aogiri exec-"

"No Qrow, there's no point. The leaders of Aogiri probably already know that we're on their tail, and we don't have the time to capture him and take him back to Cochlea. So we'll just leave him."

And with that, Shinohara punched the Ghoul in the face, knocking him out.

"Let's go," he said, moving to the hideout's exit.

Weiss tightened her grip on Myrtenaster as she followed her fellow investigators outside.

 _Ruby,_ she said. _We'll find you, I promise!_

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Yang sat alone at the lunch table, in complete silence.

Ever since Ruby disappeared Yang just hadn't been the same. Her normal cheery demeanor was now replaced with an air of sadness and solitude.

Truth be told, even _she_ was starting to give up hope. The blonde wanted to believe her sister was still alive, but all the facts seemed to indicate that she was dead. People had even begun approaching her and giving her condolences for her sister's death, which only exacerbated her bad mood.

The worst part, however, was the fact that she couldn't do _anything_. Ever since suffering a near fatal injury at the hands of the white-robed Ghoul, she had pretty much been confined from any sort physical activity. At least she could walk on her own now, but running around Vale and searching for her sister was impossible until she fully healed.

Yang banged her fist on the table loudly, earning her many stares from students nearby. But she didn't care; the only thing on her mind was her sister. Tears welled up in her eyes, a feeling she had become all too accustomed to at this point.

 _Please Ruby ... PLEASE come back to us!_

"Yang!" exclaimed a nearby voice, snapping her back to reality. Yang blinked. Standing at the other end of the table was Pyrrha Nikos, a member of team JNPR. Or rather, the team formerly known as JNPR, since Jaune was now working for the CCG

"A-are you alright?" she asked

"Yeah ... I'll be alright," Yang lied. "What's up?"

Pyrrha hesitated. She was unsure about making Yang even more depressed than she already was, but ...

"There's something you should know. I haven't seen Ren and Nora for days."

Yang's eyes widened. _No! It can't be!_

 _"They've gone missing too."_

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

* * *

 **Author's Note**

And the plot thickens! Sorry if not too much happened this chapter. It was more of a set-up chapter. Things will get a lot more intense in the next two, that much I can promise you. Anyways, thanks for reading and have an awesome day! :D


	13. Chapter 11: Leftovers

**Author's Note:** This chapter is also VERY jarring. Just a warning. Not as bad as chapter 9, but still pretty horrifying nonetheless. Oh and also, clowns vs CCG HYPE! :D

 **Important Clarification:** I just wanted to clarify a couple of things with regards to Qrow's squad. Crow's squad is lead by him and consists of four members currently: Qrow, Jaune, Weiss, Amon. Shinohara is NOT a part of Qrow squad; they are only working together for this operation. Additionally, the two previous members of Qrow squad were Kureo Mado (the only reason he was ranked below Qrow is he refused to take a promotion, and also Qrow is pretty damn strong) and someone with the last name Schnee, both of whom are now dead. I've updated the character data page to reflect this. This might seem like a minor point right now but it will be important later on, especially the Schnee who died.

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the series depicting in this story, nor any of the characters, etc. In fact, I own nothing xD.

 **Time Break: ... ... ... ... ... ...  
Bold text: GHOUL VOICE  
** _Italics: INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves; also used occasionally for EMPHASIS when characters are speaking_

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 **Chapter 11: Leftovers**

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Torchwick ran. He ran as fast as his legs could possibly carry him.

"Get back here you _ruffian_!" a female voice yelled from behind.

The ghoul rolled his eyes. _What the hell is wrong with this girl? It's like she's got a stick up her ass every time she talks._

He had just been minding his own business at one of the many Aogiri hideouts in Vale when out of nowhere a group of investigators kicked down the door and invaded.

The second the CCG broke in, Torchwick made straight for the hideout's back door and sprinted away as fast as he could. Unfortunately for him, however, a female investigator with white hair had spotted him and now followed in pursuit.

But that wasn't even the worst part! The _worst_ part was that whoever this girl was, he was sure she was the most annoying person he'd ever met in his life.

 _I mean seriously_ , he thought to himself. _What kind of person uses the word_ ruffian _when chasing after some-_

Torchick's thought was rudely interrupted as a young black-haired man emerged from a side alleyway. Torchwick's eyes widened and he tried to dodge the blow, but it was too late.

"AAARRRGGGHHH," the man yelled, smashing the blunt face of his Quinque directly into the Ghoul's head. Torch wick cried out in pain, before falling unconscious.

Weiss just blinked at the sight before her. Her partner coming out of nowhere and bashing the face of a ghoul she had been chasing for a good 5 minutes was the last thing she was expecting.

"Um … thanks?" the heiress said.

Amon just nodded, then threw the ghoul over his shoulder. "We should get back. Every second counts in a mission like this."

The First class looked back and saw Weiss looking sadly at the ground before her. "Weiss!" he said firmly.

Startled, the teen snapped out of her trance. "S-sorry, I was just thinking about-"

"Don't worry Weiss. We'll get her back," Amon said, putting a hand on his partner's shoulder.

He had seen enough people killed in this war and wasn't about to let it happen again.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

As shocking as it was, Ruby felt ... _bored_.

For whatever reason, Tatara hadn't come to torture her this morning, leaving her with little to do besides twiddle her thumbs. As morbid as the thought was, her only sense of ... _entertainment_ the past few days, if you wanted to call it that, had been their torture sessions.

Which was not to say that she would rather be getting her fingers chopped off right now. It was true that she was dealing with the pain much better, but that didn't mean she enjoyed it, nor that she felt nothing while having her fingers severed.

Ruby pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on her kneecaps. _I wonder what Yang and the others are doing right now?_

The teen smiled as she thought back to when the four had first met. It seemed like only yesterday she had arrived at Beacon, and yet in that short time she had made so many friends and met so many amazing people.

Ruby couldn't wait to return home.

Footsteps sounded off in the distance, snapping her back to reality. _He's back,_ she said, steeling herself.

To the half Ghoul's shock, however, instead of walking with his hands behind his back as was the norm, he was carrying what appeared to be a human corpse over his shoulder.

 **"Eat,"** he said, dropping the body in front of her. **"Eat him from head to toe and I don't want to see _anything_ left."**

Ruby's eyes widened. Since Kanou had revealed she was a Ghoul, he had been feeding her some sort of soup to keep her from starving, so Ruby had yet to actually consume a human being. And granted, that soup was probably made from human corpses, but even still the thought of eating someone horrified Ruby to no end. There was no way she could ever consume another person.

Regaining her composure, Ruby glared at Tatara defiantly.

"I refuse," she said.

 **"That would be unwise,"** he responded.

 **"I refuse,"** she said again, activating her Kakugan.

Tatara sighed. _Apparently, she doesn't understand the situation she's in._

 **"You should listen to him, Ruby,"** a female voice said.

Looking up, Ruby swiveled her head as she searched for the voice's source. To her shock, Eto was sitting atop a ledge high above them, swinging her legs and humming to herself softly.

But that wasn't what caught her attention.

A look of profound horror engulfed Ruby's face. Tears flooded her eyes and began flowing uncontrollably down her cheeks.

There, in her hands, Eto held the dismembered heads of Ruby's friends.

 **REN AND NORA.**

 **.** **.. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

"I'm telling you, I don't know anything!" Torchwick yelled.

Shinohara rolled his eyes. Unlike last time, this one was obviously lying. The second he mentioned Ruby's name to the Ghoul, his features had contorted in shock, as if to say, _How did you know?_ before hiding his emotions a second later. Shinohara, however, was too experienced an investigator to let something like that slide.

"You know nothing my ass," Qrow said, barging in. Pulling out a large bladed weapon, he pointed it at the Ghoul's throat. "Believe me when I say that it's in your best interests to tell us where they took her … _NOW_!"

Weiss shivered. She hadn't seen this side of Qrow yet. He was clearly angered at the fact that his niece had been kidnapped.

Torchwick gulped. Sure, he was scared of the CCG, but he was honestly _more_ scared of Noro and Tatara. Given a choice between being punished by them and being punished by the doves, he'd choose the doves any day.

"It's like I said! I honestly have no idea where she is!"

"That's it! I've had enough of your shit," Qrow said. Raising his weapon, he prepared to take an arm off their hostage.

 **"** **I wouldn't do that if I were you,"** a female voice said from behind them.

The entire squad turned around immediately and saw before them a female ghoul in a black mask. She had black hair, pale skin, a black stealth outfit, and exuded an inexplicable aura of _fire._ The second their eyes made contact, Qrow's stomach sank.

"Everyone except Qrow, take the hostage and leave immediately," Shinohara said, pulling out his weapon.

Weiss and Jaune, who were terrified out of their minds, turned to leave, as did Juuzou. Amon, however, stayed rooted to the spot.

Amon's eyes widened. "But Special Cl-"

"Listen to him Amon," Qrow said. "That's an SS+ rated Ghoul standing before you and to be honest she's out of your league. Hell, she's probably out of all of our leagues."

Qrow's expression tightened. Before them stood the clowns' second in command and one of the strongest Ghouls in all of Vale.

Nightflare.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Amon hesitated for a brief second. _If she really is an SS+ … then wouldn't it be a better idea to stay and back them up?_

"AMON!" Shinohara yelled. "This is an order from your superior. TAKE THE HOSTAGE AND LEAVE NOW!"

Amon stayed rooted to the spot. "I won't leave!" he yelled.

The last time something like this happened, when Shinohara and Kuroiwa fought the Owl, they were barely able to escape with their lives. If this Ghoul was an SS+, Qrow and Shinohara needed all the help they could get.

Amon glared at the Ghoul with steel in his eyes. "I'm not running! There's no way I'll-"

The First Class was interrupted mid sentence as his opponent disappeared. _Where did she-_

 **"** **You should have listened to your superiors,"** her voice said from behind him.

Amon's eyes widened, but it was too late. A hand ripped through his stomach, tearing it to shreds. Blood spurted everywhere.

"AAAGGGHHHH!" Amon yelled in pain. The Ghoul raised her arm once more in preparation to finish him off, but a massive butcher knife severed it before she could do so.

The Ghoul jumped back and glanced at her half-missing arm with a disinterested expression. The limb regenerated almost instantaneously.

"Qrow, how is Amon looking?" Shinohara asked.

Qrow knelt in front of his subordinate, warily keeping an eye on Nightflare. "He's beat up pretty bad, but he'll definitely make it with a bit of medical assistance."

"If we survive, that is," he said, standing up.

The ghoul raised an eyebrow. **"You're really that scared of me? I'm flattered,"** she said.

Qrow grimaced. _What the hell is a member of the clowns doing_ here _, in an Aogiri hideout? And if she's here, then other members are sure to be close behind. What if Weiss and the others run into one of her comrades? It could mean the end for them ..._

"Focus Qrow," Shinohara said. Qrow nodded. All he could do for now was concentrate on the target in front of him.

Then, reaching a hand up to the back of his neck, Shinohara pushed a button, causing a red armor to appear and envelop his body. Electricity flickered through the armor, saturating it with power.

"Arata," breathed Qrow. This was Shinohara's trump card - one of his strongest weapons. It came at a great risk of course, but the fact that the Special Class was breaking it out so quickly meant he was truly concerned.

Their opponent raised an eyebrow. **"A …** ** _kakuja_** **Quinque?** **Maybe this fight won't be boring after all,"** she remarked, smiling.

Shinohara yelled and rushed his opponent, swinging Demon Yamada as fast as he could. He was no match, however, for the black-clad Ghoul's speed, as she dodged easily and then proceeded to kick Shinohara in the face, sending him backwards.

 _Truth be told, if not for Arata I would probably have died from just that single kick,_ he said to himself.

Nonetheless, Shinohara smiled. She hadn't picked up on their strategy quite yet.

 **"** **I'm impressed,"** the Ghoul said. **"Here I was thinking that would kill you, but I guess-"**

The Ghoul's sentence was rudely interrupted as the upper half of her body was separated from her lower half, with an unsettling _squinch_. Shinohara's smile widened, as Qrow's Quinque cut clean through their opponent's midsection.

The Ghoul's eyes widened in dismay and blood spurted everywhere. _I got her,_ Qrow said.

His victory, however, was short lived, as red tentacles broke out from the Ghoul's upper half and reached towards her dismembered legs. In an incredibly gruesome scene, her upper body was yanked violently back towards her lower body and the two halves re-attached themselves.

Qrow jumped back. In all honesty, he hadn't expected that to do the job. If things were that easy then she wouldn't have been rated an SS+. He did, however, allow himself a small smile as he saw she wore look of annoyance and frustration in place of her usually calm demeanor.

Wiping a speck of blood off her face, the Ghoul known as Nightflare said, "I initially thought I would be able to beat you two without my Kagune. In hindsight, that was incredibly naive."

Her shoulder blades began glowing red and orange as she spoke. The room's temperature increased, as though the Ghoul before them were releasing an immense amount of heat.

"But no longer," she continued. "This time, I'm going to make sure the two of you don't leave here alive."

Shinohara grimaced and Qrow tightened his grip on the weapon in his hands as they prepared for the inevitable release of their opponent's Kagune.

 **"I hope you're prepared ... for your _deaths_."**

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

A look of profound horror engulfed Ruby's face. Tears flooded her eyes and began flowing uncontrollably down her cheeks.

There, in her hands, Eto held the dismembered heads of Ruby's friends.

 **REN AND NORA.**

 _N-no! I-it can't be!_ she said to herself. _REN! NORA!_

Ruby sobbed uncontrollably as a sense of sadness came over her. Physical torture was one thing, but seeing her friends die before her … was something entirely different.

Eto jumped down, still holding the heads of her friends. Ruby screamed as she dropped them at her feet, cackling.

She wanted to leave. She wanted to run as far away from this place as she possibly could. This feeling … what she felt right now … was _despair_.

 **"** **Ah, its too bad, isn't it?"** Eto said, getting uncomfortably close to Ruby. **"If only you had given in earlier! Then we wouldn't be here, would we? You had the chance to save your friends but you just had to resist, Ruby."**

The Ghoul pointed a finger at her. **"If you're looking for anyone to blame, you should blame** ** _yourself_** **."**

Ruby put her hands on the sides of her head. Her heart was beating a thousand times per second. _I-it's not my fault. It's not my fault!_

 _It's not my fault!_

 _It's not my fault!_

 _It's not my fault!_

 _IT'S NOT MY FAULT!_

Ruby screamed. Loudly. The thought of losing her friends scared her more than anything else in the world.

Eto looked at her expectantly. **"Well? Are you going to eat it?"**

Ruby shook her head defiantly in the midst of her tears. _No! There's no way I'll eat it! You can't make me!_

Tatara sighed. The girl still didn't get it.

 **"** **Oh, that's a shame,"** Eto said. **"That _really_ is a shame."**

Reaching into her pocket, Eto took out something that caused Ruby to sink into a far greater state of despair, if that even was possible.

It was a picture of YANG.

 **"** **You know, your sister's quite beautiful. I wonder what she tastes like,"** the Ghoul said.

 _N-no,_ Ruby thought to herself.

Eto snapped her fingers, as if she had just thought of a brilliant idea. **"Or, we could take her back here and have Kanou turn her into a Ghoul!"** she exclaimed gleefully.

"No," Ruby whispered.

 **"** **And then, we could torture her in front of y-"**

 **"** **NOOOO!"** Ruby screamed.

"No, please don't," she continued, sobbing. "I'll eat it. I'lll eat anything. I'll do whatever you want. Just _please_ , don't hurt my sister."

Eto grinned.

 **"Don't worry, my dear. I won't harm a hair on her head. So long as you don't leave any ...** ** _leftovers_** **."**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 **UPDATE: ** Because so many people have been asking me this, I figured it would be a good idea to address this here.

Question: Did Eto force Ruby to eat Ren and Nora? 

Answer: Well, the answer to that is a bit complicated. I purposefully left it a little vague for two reasons: 1) I didn't have the stomach to graphically describe her eating her friends and 2) I wanted to leave it up to you guys as the readers to determine what happened. The word "leftovers" is purposefully ambiguous and the whole point is for you guys to fill in the blanks and determine what happened on your own.

 **More Notes**

I'm sure most of you have probably figured out who Nightflare is by now. If not, then I'm still not gonna say :P. What I will say, though, is that I feel like she has no personality in RWBY, so I sorta tried to extrapolate a little bit on her personality and give my own take on it. Hopefully you guys liked it.

Also poor Ruby :(. Even though it's my fault that she's suffering, as the author of the story xD, I will say that I feel genuinely depressed writing these scenes. I promise that it's necessary though, for her character development. Believe me when I say that this is nothing compared to the bad-assery (as her **being** a badass, not stuff like this happening to her again) I have planned for her character later on!

Anyways, thanks again for tuning in and have an awesome day!


	14. Chapter 12: The Angel and the Demon

**IMPORTANT NOTES:** For those of you who have not read the manga, Uta is EVIL! I repeat, Uta is EVIL! The anime did a terrible job of portraying this, so those of you who are anime only readers might be a little confused and I apologize. In actuallty, Uta is the de-facto leader of the Clowns and is indirectly responsible for pretty much everything bad that happened to Kaneki. It is also hinted that he is an INCREDIBLY powerful Ghoul. If you don't believe me, read the manga - specifically chapter 143 of the first series and the Auction Arc of Tokyo Ghoul:re. The majority of things that happen in this chapter are drawn directly from cannon material, I assure you.

Also, Nightflare's Kagune is supposed to somewhat resemble Touka's Kagune, except it's colored slightly differently. She is also an Ukaku ghoul, much like Touka. And on that topic, Uta's appearance is the same as it is in the Auction Arc of :re.

Finally, thanks again for reading and I hope all of you enjoy! :D

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the series depicting in this story, nor any of the characters, etc. In fact, I own nothing xD.

 **Time Break: ... ... ... ... ... ...  
Bold text: GHOUL VOICE  
** _Italics: INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves; also used occasionally for EMPHASIS when characters are speaking_

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 **Chapter 12: The Angel and the Demon**

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Ruby vomited for the third time that day. She whimpered and put her head to the ground.

"No more," she said. "Please, no more."

Eto laughed. **"Oh but you've only eaten 9 today, Ruby. I know you can do better!"**

Tears flooded Ruby's eyes. She would do anything to protect her sister, but it was getting to the point where she wasn't sure if it was physically possible to eat anymore.

After revealing she had killed Ren and Nora, Eto began forcing Ruby to eat 10 humans per day. Which, as much as Ruby hated to admit, wasn't … the _worst_ thing in the world. All that had changed, however, the moment they started feeding her Ghouls.

Something about the makeup of ghouls was different from that of humans. For one, they tasted about as bad as normal food and even consuming a single arm from a Ghoul made her sick to her stomach. But for two, there was something about the make-up of Ghouls that was starting to affect her psychologically. Perhaps it was the RC cells in their body, but it felt like the more she ate, the more she lost sight of her sanity.

"I can't," she sobbed. "I ... don't want to eat anymore."

 **"** **Ah, that's too bad. Yang's gonna be disappointed when she hears about this. That her little sister couldn't eat just one more measly ghoul to save her li-"**

Before she could finish her sentence, Ruby grabbed the final ghoul corpse before her and began eating it.

Eto chuckled, **"That's more like it, little Ruby."**

A sadistic grin adorned her face.

 _This place …_ Ruby said, forcing herself to swallow.

 _This place is a living HELL._

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Shinohara and Qrow openly gaped at the sight before them. As much as Qrow hated to admit it, the Ghoul's Kagune was _beautiful_.

Two wing-like structures now protruded from her shoulders. Each glowed a yellow-orange color - the color of _fire_. Her Kagune also extended down her forearms, engulfing them in a similarly colored armor with claw-like weapons for hands. Most striking of all, however, the top of her head was enveloped in a crown of flames.

She looked like an angel … an angel of fire and _death_.

Shinohara gritted his teeth. _The air's getting warm. She's releasing so much energy with her Kagune that it's actually raising the temperature in the room. I've never battled a Ghoul like this before!_

Nonetheless, judging from first looks he estimated she was slightly weaker than the Owl. But then again, her Kagune was an Ukaku, which meant that she would probably be incredibly fast. And unfortunately for them fast opponents were bad match-ups for Shinohara due to his lack of speed.

Nightflare smiled at their reactions to her Kagune. It tended to have that effect on people.

Without warning, she rushed at them with blinding speed.

 _As expected, she's fast,_ Shinohara said to himself. Instead of moving out of the way, however, Shinohara allowed the hit to land. There was no sense in attempting to dodge it, since he doubted he could in the first place and Arata would absorb most of the damage anyways.

He was wrong about that second part, however.

As the Ghoul slammed her fist into his stomach, pain reverberated throughout his body. Red liquid flew from his mouth as he coughed up blood and was flung backwards, crashing into the wall.

Nightflare had no time to relish in her victory, however, because Qrow was on her the second her fist made contact. He sliced at her head, and though she dodged he was able to barely scratch her cheek with his blade, drawing blood.

Jumping backwards, Nightflare eyed Qrow cautiously. Unlike Shinohara, Qrow had the speed to at least keep up with her and his Quinque gave him the strength to overpower her. She would need to dispose of him quickly in order to win this fight.

Lunging forward, Nightflare reached out with her claws, intending to skewer Qrow through the stomach. The investigator blocked with his Quinque, then launched an attack of his own, intending to sever the Ghoul's head. She blocked with one of her wings, battering his Quinque aside, then slashed at his chest.

Again, Qrow blocked her attack.

The two continued to exchange blows for the next minute, hundreds of attacks clashing and reverberating sparks through the air. Nightflare quickly realized that she had underestimated Qrow.

 _He might be the larger man's subordinate, but he seems to be a bit stronger,_ she said to herself. _Or at the very least, he matches up a lot better against me._

Qrow lunged forward and slashed at her face, but again she blocked with her arm. Immediately she slashed at Qrow with one of her wings, but Qrow dodged the blow and jumped back, panting.

They were dead even.

 **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **…** ** **...** **...** **…** **...** **...** **…**** **…**

Weiss ran. She ran as fast as she could away from the battle behind her.

For some reason that Ghoul had been incredibly terrifying. Weiss could tell that she was strong just by looking at her and as much as the youth wanted to stay and help her superior, as Amon had, she just couldn't muster up the courage to do so.

Behind her was Juuzou and lagging far behind was Jaune, as he was tasked with carrying Torchwick's unconscious body, whom they had knocked out so as to prevent him from escaping.

It was difficult to see in the darkness of night, but off in the distance she could make out the CCG vehicle they had arrived in. A few more paces and they would be on their way back to headquarters.

Weiss breathed a sigh of relief. They were gonna make it.

 **"Well well well, what do we have here?"**

Weiss stopped, eyes widening in horror. _Where … where is that voice coming from?_

"Wh-who's there?!" she yelled into the darkness.

Jaune and Juuzou, who had caught up to her, eyed area around them cautiously. Apparently they had heard something as well.

"Look over there!" Jaune exclaimed, pointing to an alleyway.

A second ago, if someone had asked Weiss what the most terrifying thing she'd seen in her life was, she might just have said Nightflare. What she saw now, however, far outstripped that as the scariest thing she'd ever seen.

The … _thing_ … that walked towards them was wearing a horrifying mask with a beak-like nose and four holes that formed a half-circle above the pointed protrusion. The man was clothed in a light-colored, striped suit jacket and an open collared zebra striped dress shirt with matching pants. There were white gloves on his hands and worst of all, through two of the holes Weiss saw Kakugan filled with hatred and sadism.

She froze, too afraid to move. Despair filled her bones and her limbs grew weak. The heiress recognized that mask and figure.

The SSS rated Ghoul **No Face** had come for them.

 **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **…** ** **...** **...** **…** **...** **...** **…**** **…**

Qrow dropped onto one knee, panting. Initially Nightflare had been thrown off by his strength, putting them on an even battlefield, but since then the fight had turned in her favor. Qrow had numerous cuts on his body and began to realize it was only a matter of time before she overwhelmed him.

It also didn't help that his opponent was being incredibly cautious. At first she had been overconfident, but was an experienced enough opponent to know not to make such a mistake again. She _wasn't_ going to mess up, which meant certain death for Qrow.

The Ghoul rushed at him, swinging her claws in an attempt to skewer his face. He was able to block the blow, but she used her wings to batter and disarm him.

Qrow's weapon hit the ground with a clang.

 _Damnit! I need to dodge! If I don't get out of the way it's over!_

But it was too late. He wasn't going to make it. Nightflare raised a claw, preparing to slash Qrow from shoulder to hip.

Suddenly, however, the Ghoul glimpsed a projectile approaching her from the right. Her eyes widened in surprise as she he jerked her head backwards, but was unable to avoid the hit entirely. The tip of a blade slashed her neck, leaving a small cut.

The blade hit the wall behind her with a resounding clang. Shocked, both combatants looked at the weapon embedded the wall and saw that it was none other than Demon Yamada - Shinohara's Quinque.

Loud footsteps were heard from the other side of the room as Shinohara appeared from a pile of rubble, having finally regained consciousness form their opponent's initial hit. The investigator was visibly angered.

Nightflare smiled. Throwing his weapon had been a huge gamble and would have won them the fight had the hit landed, but because it didn't the Special Class investigator was now weaponless.

 **"I commend your creativity, but you don't have a weapon anymore,"** she said confidently.

Walking forward, Shinohara positioned himself in front of Qrow. He glared at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"I don't need my Quique to beat you," he said. "All I need-"

"-ARE MY BARE HANDS!"

 **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **…** ** **...** **...** **…** **...** **...** **…**** **…**

Weiss, Jaune, and even Juuzou (to some extent) stared at the Ghoul with shaking legs.

 **"Come on, hun, no need to be afraid. I'm just here to have some fun,"** the Ghoul said.

Jaune brandished his Quinque. "Yeah right! There's no way I'll let you hurt my friends!"

And with that, Jaune charged the Ghoul head on. He expected the Ghoul to dodge, but to his surprise it made no attempt to. _My attack … it's gonna hit!_

Jaune's weapon sliced through the Ghoul's face with a disgusting _squench_.

 _I … I did it! I killed him!_ Jaune said to himself, as the Ghoul's corpse fell to the ground.

Turning around, Jaune smiled at his flabbergasted teammates. _That wasn't so bad_ , he thought to himself.

 **"You know, you really ought to _listen_ when others are talking to you."**

Jaune's eyes widened. He searched desperately for the source of the voice and was shocked to see that the Ghoul was now sitting cross-legged on top of their vehicle. He was resting his chin on his right hand non-chalantly.

 **"If you had listened, you'd know that I'm not here to fight you guys. I'm not interested in a couple of _ants_ like yourself."**

The three investigators looked on in fear, as the Ghoul dropped down from his perch and walked towards them.

 **"I only wanted to talk a little bit … about a certain friend of yours. Her name's Ruby Rose. I'm sure you know her, ri-"**

The Ghoul was interrupted as Weiss yelled and charged at him with Myrtenaster. The second he mentioned Ruby's name, all her fear faded. She stabbed at his face, with the intention to kill him in one strike.

No Face moved out of the attack's path so quickly, Weiss nearly fell over. Regaining her balance, she charged at him again, but once more he dodged the blow and disappeared.

 **"Man, you people really don't think before you act, do you,"** he said from somewhere behind her.

Weiss ran at him for the third time. _He knows something about Ruby! I know he does! Even if it means my death, I have to try my best to beat him._

No Face laughed at her attempt. **"Are you sure you want to attack me, Weiss?"** he asked. **"After all … "**

At this, the Ghoul took his right hand and slowly began pulling away his mask. Weiss' eyes widened momentarily in confusion, but she didn't stop her attack. That is, until she saw who was behind the mask.

 **"… you wouldn't want to hurt your friend, right?"**

Her sword clattered to the ground. There, right in front of her, where here a Ghoul's face should have been, was the face of her friend.

Ruby Rose.

 **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **…** ** **...** **...** **…** **...** **...** **…**** **…**

Weiss shook her head in disbelief. _I … I-NO! Ruby?! It can't be! It's gotta be some sort of trick!_

However, even though she knew it wasn't real, seeing her friend's face greatly affected her. She picked up her sword and stood at the ready, but could no longer bring herself to attack the Ghoul before her.

 **"Well, now that I've got your attention, perhaps we can finally talk,"** he said, covering his face with his mask once more.

The Ghoul dropped to the ground and sat cross-legged once again in a sloppy, nonchalant manner.

 **"How much do you know about … _a_** ** _rtificial Ghouls_ , Weiss?"**

The rookie investigator's eyes narrowed. _What in the world does this have to do with Ruby?_

"Artificial ... Ghouls? What do you mean?"

 **"I mean performing surgery on a human and turning it _into_ a Ghoul. Or rather, a _Half Ghoul_. How much do you know?"**

Weiss hesitated for a brief moment. _Why is he asking me this?_

"It's impossible," she replied. "And what sort of monster would ever want to do something like that?" she asked.

The Ghoul chuckled at her response. **"Oh you'd be surprised,"** he said.

 **"You see, the thing about half Ghouls is that they're _incredibly_ strong. In general, their regeneration abilities far outstrip that of a normal Ghoul, to name one difference. That's one of the main reasons why the One Eyed King is where he is now."**

 **"So, if there was some way to create half Ghouls from humans and say someone discovered this method, what do you think would happen?"**

Weiss' eyebrows furrowed as she thought over the Ghoul's remark. "Well … then, they would … they'd make more, right? They'd make more one-eyed Ghouls and continue making more until they had …"

Weiss trailed off as she realized what the Ghoul was getting at. Shaking her head, she said, "It doesn't matter. Something like that is impossible anyways, so there's no point in speculating on it."

No Face sighed in disappointment. **"You're really no fun, you know that?"**

Getting up, the Ghoul dusted off his suit coat, then put his hands behind his back. **"Well then, I'll be leaving now. After I take _him_ , of course." **At this, the Ghoul pointed at Torchwick.

Jaune's eyes widened. _Uh-_

Before he could even finish his thought, the blonde-haired boy found himself buried face first into the ground.

 _What?! When did he …_

"Up there!" Weiss yelled, pointing to a nearby rooftop.

There, No Face stood with Torchwick's body slung over his shoulder. He waved at them.

 **"See ya."**

 **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **…** ** **...** **...** **…** **...** **...** **…**** **…**

With a yell, Shinohara sprinted at his opponent, intending to punch her directly in the face.

As usual Nightflare dodged, but she noticed immediately that Shinohara was faster than before.

Her eyes narrowed as she realized what he was doing. _He got rid of his weapon so he'd be able to match my speed better! He's relying on his armor's brute strength to crush me with his hands_ , she said.

Before she could make her next move, Shinohara lunged towards her again. She dodged and then rebounded towards the investigator, slashing with right claw.

To her shock, he reached out and grabbed her arm, holding her in place. Then, pulling back his open hand, the Special Class punched Nightflare as hard as he could in the stomach, sending her flying.

Red liquid flew from her lips as she coughed up blood.

 _Heh. Take that!_ Shinohara said.

Immediately, however, Shinohara collapsed in pain. _ARGH!_ he said. _The armor's consuming me. I need to finish this fight NOW!_

After regaining his consciousness, Shinohara had activated the special ability of his armor, which granted him increased speed and strength. It came, however, at the cost of allowing the armor to "eat" the wearer and thus wasn't meant to be used for long periods of time.

Moments later, Nightflare emerged from the cloud of dust created when she had crashed into the wall. It appeared on the outside as though she had regenerated the injury and at first glance the Ghoul looked virtually unblemished, but on the inside she was reeling from the blow that had been dealt to her.

 _That one nearly killed me_ , she said. When it came to Ghouls, often blunt force was more effective than bladed weapons. Nightflare frowned. It appeared that she had no choice at this point.

Qrow picked up his weapon and took his place next to Shinohara. "Let's finish this Shino," he said. The burly investigator nodded in agreement.

 **"I really didn't want to do this, but at this point you've forced my hand,"** she said.

Shinohara widened his stance. _What does she have up her sleeve?_ he asked himself.

Then, Nightflare's body began glowing - even more intensely than when she had first released the Kagune. The two investigators were forced to shield their eyes at the spectacle before them.

"Damnit, what the hell is she doing now?!" Qrow yelled.

Shinohara's mind raced as he considered the possibilities. _Don't tell me!_

The temperature in the room increased dramatically. Shinohara and Qrow felt their limbs grow weak from the heat. It was as if they were in the middle of a furnace, being roasted alive with no hope of-

 **"Now now _Nightflare_ , no need to get worked up over a couple of doves."**

Shocked, the Ghoul suddenly stopped glowing.

Shinohara's eyes darted around the room. _Who in the-_

His eyes grew in fear as a Ghoul with a beaked shaped mask and striped coat emerged from the darkness.

"No Face," he breathed.

Qrow tightened his grip on his weapon. "What the hell is a SSS Ghoul doing here, Shino?" he asked

Shinohara shook his head. "I don't know. Perhaps he's here to save his subordinate."

At this point, Shinohara had essentially given up hope. Nightflare herself was enough of a match for them, but No Face was presumedly even stronger than her, which meant taking him on would be virtually impossible.

 _It's over,_ Shinohara said to himself, closing his eyes in defeat.

The Special Class was shocked, however, when the SSS Ghoul said,

 **"We're leaving."**

The eyes of Shinohara, Qrow, and even Nightflare widened in surprise. She looked as though she were about to question his decision, but thought better of it.

 **"Very well,"** came her response.

Whispering, Qrow said, "Shino, should we-"

"No, don't try to pursue them," he replied quietly. "We _need_ to inform the CCG that the clowns are on the move. There's something big happening here and the chairman needs to know about it as soon as possible."

Qrow grumbled, but responded, "Fine."

And with that, their two opponents vanished into the darkness.

 **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **...** **…** ** **...** **...** **…** **...** **...** **…**** **…**

Two masked Ghouls walked the streets, alone.

 _I … underestimated them,_ Nightflare said to herself. She was frustrated, having turned what should have been an easy victory into a hard fought battle.

The Ghoul removed her mask, revealing a young, beautiful girl with pale white skin and amber eyes.

"Uta?" Cinder asked. "Why did you stop me?"

The Ghoul chuckled, as he too removed his mask, revealing a black-haired young man with hair styled in an undercut. His Kakugan still appeared to be active, despite the fact that they were no longer in battle.

"There's no sense in killing off our prey immediately, Cinder," he said. "When you're hunting something, you've gotta **play** with it … **enjoy** the chase, **savor** it. I'm just trying to keep things interesting, is all."

Cinder remained silent. She didn't know how to feel after the entire ordeal, truth be told. However, she had to agree with Uta on one thing.

Things were starting to get very _interesting_.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Hope you guys enjoyed that chapter! Mostly an action based chapter. Let me know what you thought of my portrayal of No Face/Uta (who are the same person, btw), Nightflare/Cinder, and the rest of the characters in this chapter.

And for those of you who thought this chapter didn't have enough Ruby, she will be the main focus of the next couple chapters, so you can look forward to that!

Otherwise, thanks again for readng and have an awesome rest of the day!


	15. Chapter 13: Unfettered

**Author's Note:** Ruby's Kagune is SO EPIC! But unfortunately it's not in this chapter so you guys will have to wait a little longer :P. Sorry about that xD.

Also one thing i'd like to say before getting into this is that the scene in Ruby's internal world is actually is actually inspired the Ichigo internal world scenes from Bleach. I personally am a huge Bleach fan and I thought those were well done. I suppose I sort of combined the Kaneki & Rize internal scenes with the Ichigo scenes from Bleach for this chapter.

And that's pretty much all I have to say for now. Thanks for reading and I hope all of you enjoy! :D

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the series depicting in this story, nor any of the characters, etc. In fact, I own nothing xD.

 **Time Break: ... ... ... ... ... ...  
Bold text: GHOUL VOICE  
** _Italics: INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves; also used occasionally for EMPHASIS when characters are speaking_

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 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...** **... ... ... ... ... ...**

 **Chapter 13: Unfettered**

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Ruby sat with her chin resting on her knees. She wanted to cry, but truth be told she couldn't anymore. She'd cried so much that her tears had literally "dried up."

Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, Eto starting bringing in _live_ Ghouls and forcing her to eat them. The experience had been horrible, to say the least. The feeling of consuming something that was still moving … it made her nauseous just thinking about it.

Ruby shuddered. _Don't think about it,_ she told herself. _Just … don't think about it._

A few times now, the half Ghoul had actually entertained the idea of trying to escape. The only problem with something like that was that she was currently weaponless and had absolutely no idea how to use her Kagune. In fact, she suspected that Eto and Kanou were somehow doing something to suppress her Kagune, because no matter what she tried she just couldn't release it.

More importantly, even if she did manage to escape her chains, she would probably have to fight Eto before she escaping - a prospect that frightened her to no end. Ruby was deathly afraid of her fellow half Ghoul, not so much because she had been torturing her, but because she didn't understand her. She had no idea what Eto's motives were, nor _why_ she had turned into the person she was today, and that, above all, was the reason for her fear.

As such, she wasn't mentally ready to escape just yet.

Ruby sighed. Her eyes began flickering. She'd been trying her best to stay awake as long as possible in order to avoid the nightmares that now plagued her, but she was starting to get tired. Maybe just a short nap …

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

 _When Ruby awoke, she found herself lying on the ground, in what seemed to be a patch of flowers. Roses, to be more precise._

 _Sitting up, the half Ghoul looked around her and saw that the patch extended as far as the eye could see in all directions. In fact, the scene before her was less like a patch, and more like an endless_ plain _of roses. The color of red saturated the landscape before her. It was a beautiful sight._

 _Then, off in the distance, Ruby saw a shining yellow light that stood out amongst the sea of red. She jumped to her feet and sprinted towards the light source. Whatever it was she knew it had to be something good._

 _The second Ruby arrived at her destination, she gasped. Before her was a glowing yellow Buttercup flower. The beauty of the roses that surrounded it paled in comparison; it was the living embodiment of vibrance and life._

 _Looking at it reminded her of the words she had heard so long ago …_

 _"_ _You're NOT alone."_

 _"_ _You're NOT alone."_

 _"_ _You're NOT alone."_

 _Ruby smiled as she basked in the warmth of the yellow flower. She felt_ happy _for the first time in a while._

 _A drop of rain landed in front of her. Eyes widening, Ruby looked up and saw that the sky was now filled with ominous thunderheads as far as the eye could see. More raindrops fell, and before Ruby knew it she was caught in the middle of a torrential downpour. Lightning echoed off in the distance, and a dark green fog clouded the air. A creepy scene, to say the least._

 _ **"**_ _ **You're weak, Ruby.**_ ** _"_**

 _Startled, Ruby turned around to find none other than … herself? She shut her eyes and re-opened them multiple times, but the scene remained the same. Ruby frowned._

 _The figure before her looked like her, but the colors were completely off. It was almost as if she were the complete opposite, possessing pure black skin, bright white clothing, white hair, and even a gray cape. One thing that did remain the partially same, however, was that both of her eyes were Kakugan._

 _Ruby shivered. The … "other Ruby" … before her exuded an aura that could only be described with one word:_ cold _. Far colder than Blake, or Nishiki, or even Tatara. She spoke emotionlessly, as if she lacked all feeling. It was the tone of one who had given up hope._

 _"_ _W-what?" she responded._

 _ **"**_ _ **You're weak,"**_ _she said again._

 ** _"_** ** _You've got all this power, and yet still, you're here being tortured and enslaved by these …_** **people** ** _. You should kill them."_**

 _Ruby shook her head. "There's nothing else I can do. I just have to wait until Yang and everyone else-"_

 _ **"**_ _ **Come to rescue you?"**_ _her counterpart interrupted._ _ **"Why would they come to rescue a Ghoul? Face it, Ruby, you're on your own. You're alone. Your friends may not have abandoned you yet, but once they find out you're a Ghoul they'll leave you. And then, you'll be all alone."**_

 _Ruby's eyes widened. She couldn't deny the truth in her statements. What would her friends think of her? What would Weiss say? What would Blake say? What would … YANG say?_

 _She shuddered. The the thought of her friends abandoning her scared her more than anything else in the world._

 _ **"**_ _ **Friends are meaningless in this world,"**_ _the "other" Ruby continued._ _ **"**_ ** _Look at Eto and Tatara. The reason why they've gotten to where they are now is because they don't have friends."_**

 ** _"_** ** _You've misunderstood what life is, Ruby. To live is not to make friends. To live is not to forge relationships with others."_**

 ** _"_** ** _To live is to_** **devour** ** _others."_**

 _A feeling of profound horror came over Ruby. Though she wanted to deny it, Ruby agreed with much of what her counterpart had just said. What if her friends didn't accept her when she came back? What if they abandoned her? What if they left her all alo-_

 _"_ _You're NOT alone."_

 _Yang's proclamation from that day echoed through her internal world. It was so loud that the earth beneath her shook. Ruby could have sworn that she even felt her sister's hand on her shoulder, comforting her._

 _"_ _No," she said firmly, gathering courage. There was a defiant look in her eyes - the same look she had given Tatara when she had refused to scream while he cut off her fingers._

 _It was a look of faith, hope, and vigor._

 _"_ _You're wrong. I refuse to believe something like that."_

 _"_ _And as for my friends, I won't give up hope. It's true that people hate Ghouls, and what you said about them abandoning me is a reasonable conclusion to make. But they won't hate me for what I've become. I_ know _they won't. I …"_

 _ **"**_ _ **I have faith in them."**_

 _Ruby glared at the mental image in front of her awaiting its response. She clenched her fists as silence manifested between the two._

 _Then finally, after what seemed like an eternity the figure said,_ _ **"I see. Very well then. When you understand the truth of the world, come back here and we will speak again. Until then, Ruby,**_ **goodbye** _ **."**_

 _As Ruby's counterpart finished her sentence, the plain of flowers began to fade away, and Ruby was drawn out from her inner world._

 _But before things could fade completely, she realized something. Finally, after all this time, after the countless days spent being tortured mentally and physically, she understood why Eto was doing this to her._

 _Eto was lonely._

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

 **"** **RUBY!"** an all too familiar voice exclaimed, waking Ruby from her deep sleep. Again, Eto was comfortably close to her, staring at her _"sister"_ with a sadistic smile.

A few days ago Ruby would probably have been startled, but by now she had grown used to Eto doing things like this. So, she just glared at her fellow half Ghoul with narrow eyes.

 **"** **I was starting to get bored so I thought I'd come over to play,"** she said, smile widening. She pointed to a pile of corpses next to her.

Ruby didn't move. She continued to rest her chin on top of her knees, and remained silent.

She _wanted_ to hate the monster before her. She wanted to hate it - no, _her_ \- so badly. After all, this person had done unspeakable things to her. She had killed Ruby's friends, cut off her fingers, forced her to eat _living_ beings, and worst of all turned her into a half Ghoul, but even still Ruby couldn't bring herself to do so. What she felt towards Eto wasn't hate.

It was _pity_.

Or perhaps pity was a bit of a strong word, but when she looked at Eto she saw someone who had grown up without hope, without happiness, and worst of all without any friends, which made Ruby feel _sad_.

She wondered how things might have turned out had the two switched places. Would _she_ be the one torturing Eto? Would _she_ be the one leading a terrorist organization like Aogiri? Would _she_ lose all hope for the world, and sink into a state of despair?

Ruby shuddered at the thought. She was beginning to realize something. She didn't hate Eto, nor did she hate Tatara. There was one thing, however, that she did hate. And that was …

 **THE WORLD.**

Not hate in the sense that she wanted to destroy it, but rather she hated the way that it currently worked and operated. The reason why Eto had turned into the monster she was today was because of the _world_. The reason why she had been tortured and hurt so much in the past few days was because of the _world_.

The reason why her mom had been killed was because of the _world_.

Right then and there, Ruby decided something. She decided something that would change the course of her life forevermore.

 ** _I'm going to change this world, if it's the last damn thing I do._**

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

"Ah, Ruby!"

The all too familiar voice of Dr. Kanou woke Ruby from her nap. As the doctor approached her, she stared at him with cold eyes.

"I'm just here to check up on my patient, nothing more," he said, dropping a pile of medical instruments on a nearby table.

Ruby took a deep breath. _You can DO this, Ruby._

Kanou shifted through his tools until he finally found the one he wanted - a small scalpel-like tool. He smiled with a pleased expression.

"Okay Ruby, I need you to-"

The second Kanou turned around, he was hit in the stomach with a projectile moving at an incredibly high speed. The instant it hit, red liquid spurted from the doctor's lips, and he was flung all the way across the hall, hitting a wall near the front door with a resounding _CRASH!_ The force of the collision was so great that debris erupted from the impact, creating a small dust cloud.

Kanou coughed in pain. Still dazed, he looked down to see what had hit him, and to his shock it was an ... _arm_.

He heard four consecutive _crunch_ noises from where Ruby was chained down. Kanou's eyes narrowed. _Don't tell me,_ he said to himself.

Then, an unpleasant _squench_.

As the dust cloud cleared, the Doctor's worst fears were realized. There, unfettered for the first time in weeks, was the now half Ghoul.

Ruby Rose.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Blake sat down with a sigh. Every since that night when Ruby was taken, things had been sad and stressful. She was just so ... _confused_.

 _I ... I can't tell them the truth anymore,_ she said. _I can't tell that them I'm a Ghoul, because if I do they'll hate me. After what happened to Ruby, there's no way they would ever forgive someone like me._

"Blake?"

 _And as if that isn't enough, Ruby ..._

Blake shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes. Ruby's kidnapping was something she didn't have the heart to think about anymore. At this point, the three girls had virtually accepted that their friend was lost.

"Blake," a voice called from outside. Startled, Blake realized that the manager was calling her. She put down her coffee and rushed outside.

The moment she got there, she saw that Yoshimura was standing with his back facing the window, staring off into the distance. Blake shot her boss a concerned look. Something was _wrong_.

"Is everything okay, manager?" Blake asked.

The manager sighed softly. "Blake, I need to run a brief ... _errand._ Do you mind looking after the shop while I'm gone?"

Blake's eyes grew slightly in surprise. _An ... errand? What could he possibly mean by that?_

Considering what she knew of Yoshimura's past, there were a million questions Blake wanted to ask him at that moment. However, she decided to respect his privacy, and instead replied, "Of course."

Blake bowed her head with a smile and went back into the coffee shop, leaving Yoshimura standing outside in solitude once more.

The wind picked up, blowing cold air into the old man's face. Looking up at the darkening sky, Yoshimura opened his eyes and whispered the name of a single letter,

 ** _"V."_**

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

"Alright Ruby, I need you to-"

Reaching her arm back, Ruby threw the dismembered limb she was holding as hard as she possibly could. It hit the doctor almost instantly, and sent him flying across the room. A loud _CRASH_ echoed through the hall as he hit a wall at the other end.

Grimacing, she braced herself for the pain that was to about come.

Ruby broke both of her thumbs and folded them backwards with an unsettling _crunch_ , then contorted both of her hands and was able to extract them from the shackles around her wrists. Resisting the urge to scream in pain, the teen reached down to her legs and broke both of her ankles. Bile rose up from her stomach, but she managed not to throw up.

With a yank, she freed her right leg, but her left remained stuck in the chain no matter how hard she pulled.

 _Damnit!_ she cursed. Ruby yanked again, but no matter how hard she tried her left leg wouldn't come free.

 _Come on!_ she yelled, contorting her foot in an attempt to pull it out. _It's not budging!_

Left with no other options, Ruby did the one last thing she could think of. In an incredibly gruesome scene, she grabbed one of the empty shackles, wrapped its chain around her left leg, and yanked at both ends. She pulled harder and harder, until-

 _SQUELCH!_

Ruby's foot was separated from the upper part of her leg, leaving a dismembered foot trapped in the chain.

Finally, she was _free_.

The second Ruby escaped from her fetters, she felt an increase in her vigor. Her blood began pumping faster, and it was almost as though she were ... _alive_... for the first time since being captured. Her injuries began to heal instantaneously, and Ruby watched in awe as her leg regenerated in a matter of seconds.

 _I see,_ she said to herself. _The reason why I wasn't able to release my Kagune was because of those shackles, wasn't it? Somehow, Kanou was using it to suppress my RC levels._

For once in his life, Kanou's eyes were actually wide in shock. "How did you-"

 **"I hid away an arm from one of the bodies Eto had me eat,"** she said, glaring at the doctor defiantly. **"Then, I broke my thumbs and ankles and from there was able to pull my limbs out."**

Kanou grimaced. He felt the taste of blood in his mouth. _If I don't treat this wound quickly, I'll die,_ he said to himself.

The doctor narrowed his eyes. "But why wait until I came? Why not escape earlier?"

 **"Because,"** Ruby said, walking up to the Doctor. **"I can't let something like this happen to anyone else. I'm sorry Doctor, but I have to _kill_ you here."**

Raising her arm, Ruby prepared to kill someone willingly for the first time in her short life. She felt guilty for what she was about to do, but nonetheless could not let him ruin the life of anyone else.

 _I have to do_ _th-_

Blood spurted from Ruby's mouth as a red tentacle slammed into her stomach, sending her flying across the ground.

After she stopped skidding, Ruby sat up - still dazed from the impact. _What ... happened?_ she asked, putting a hand on the ground to steady herself.

As her eyes cleared, she beheld a visibly angered Tatara before her.

 **"I knew we should have killed you earlier."**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Awwww yeah! Ruby's finally free, boys and girls. Ready for Ruby vs Tatara hype next chapter? Who knows, Ruby might even release her Kagune :P.

Thanks as always for reading and I will see you guys in the next chapter!


	16. Chapter 14: The Angel of Blood

**Author's Note:** Man, Ruby's Kagune is seriously cool! But unfortunately, it's not in this chap-

Just kidding guys. I actually decided to stop being lazy and finally have her release her Kagune this chapter. Hope you guys like it!

Otherwise, thanks as always for reading and I hope you enjoy :D.

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the series depicted in this story, nor any of the characters, etc. In fact, I own nothing xD.

 **Time Break: ... ... ... ... ... ...  
Bold text: GHOUL VOICE  
** _Italics: INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves; also used occasionally for EMPHASIS when characters are speaking_

* * *

 **... ...** **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...** **... ... ... ... ... ...**

 **Chapter 14: The Angel of Blood**

 **... ...** **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...** **... ... ... ... ... ..**

Grimacing, Ruby picked herself off the ground and dusted off her clothes.

 _I was hoping I'd be able to escape without them noticing, but I suppose fighting him is better than fighting Eto._

As she stood up, Ruby considered the options before her.

 _In all honesty, I'm not sure if I can defeat someone like Tatara,_ she said to herself. _He's too experienced, especially when it comes to using his Kagune._

With that said, Ruby did have two advantages over him: regeneration and speed. The speed advantage was for obvious reasons - namely natural quickness and possessing an ukaku Kagune. The regeneration advantage came from being a One Eyed Ghoul. But even still, if the Aogiri executive landed enough hits on her it would mean certain death.

 _I can't mess around,_ she said. _Even if I have no idea how to use it, I need to release my Kagune. Now._

Facing her opponent, Ruby activated her Kakugan and said, **"I would rather not fight you. I don't suppose there's any way you could let me pass, is there?"**

Tatara laughed at her. **"You're a naive girl, you know that?"**

Ruby ignored his taunt and took a deep breath. _Well, here goes nothing!_

Instantly, her shoulder blades began emitting a dark red aura that reached down her hands and engulfed her upper body.

Tatara's eyes narrowed. He had seen many types of Kagune before, but a release like this was new to him.

The dark aura continued to gather and soon became intermixed with black streaks of energy. They crackled and sizzled, like black lightning bolts in a sea of blood. The aura was so overwhelming that the very color of the room seemed to morph in face of Ruby's power.

With a yell, Ruby began glowing an intense dark red, forcing Kanou to shield his eyes.

 _"_ I ... I can't see!" Kanou exclaimed. Truth be told, he was incredibly excited to see his creation's abilities. Here and now, the crowning achievement of his career was showing her true worth and finally, after all these years, he would be able to witness the fruits of his labor.

Tatara had a much less positive reaction than the doctor, but nonetheless was mildly impressed with his opponent's transformation.

The energy surrounding Ruby began increasing more rapidly, causing her to glow even more intensely - to the point where even the half Ghoul herself had to shut her eyes. Then, after a few brief seconds, the energy finally came to a point.

In a massive _sizzle_ of black and red, Ruby's Kagune stabilized, revealing its final form.

Immediately Kanou gasped at the sight before him.

From her her shoulder blades now protruded two red and black colored wings that resembled roses. In fact, each wing was connected to her shoulder blade by a short but wide "stem" of sorts, and each stem was dotted with tiny protrusions analogous to thorns.

Several spikes ran across her upper back, similar to Eto's Kagune and Kakuja forms. On Ruby, however, the spikes looked less like plumage and more like thorns, increasing the resemblance of her Kagune to roses.

Finally, the Kagune extended down her arms and culminated in two curved blades protruding from her wrists. The blades curved up and inwards, taking on the shapes of thin crescent moons. They were clearly intended for close combat and would undoubtedly make her a force to be reckoned with in close quarters.

In short, the creature he beheld was an angel of _blood_ , just as Nightflare had been an angel of fire.

Ruby smirked. Though she despised some aspects of being a Ghoul, she had to admit that she'd thoroughly enjoyed releasing her Kagune. Kanou's reaction to it was _priceless_.

Tatara, on the other hand, seemed unmoved. **"That Kagune is flashy, but it won't prevent your death,"** he said.

As Tatara finished his sentence, he launched his Kagune towards her, intending to skewer her through the stomach.

Ruby dodged, and easily at that. Even Tatara was impressed with her speed, although he somewhat expected it by virtue of her possessing an ukaku Kagune.

Then, faster than the eye could follow, Ruby launched herself at Tatara and swung at his face with one of the curved blades on her wrist. Tatara, however, was ready for the attack and blocked it with his own Kagune, not moving a single step. He then flung Ruby backwards and sent her into the back wall with a loud _CRASH!_

 _He's reading my moves,_ Ruby said to herself as she got up from the attack. _I'll have to try and be a little more unpredictable._

Bracing herself, Ruby disappeared in a flash of speed and reappeared at Tatara's left side, kicking at his face. Tatara reached up with a hand and caught her leg, but before he could take advantage of the counter Ruby slashed at his face with one of her blades.

Tatara whipped his Kagune through the air and blocked the slash, jarring Ruby with his predatory organ's brute strength.

Ruby jumped back, frustrated. He still hadn't actually _moved_ yet.

Raising the wings of her Kagune, Ruby launched a series of projectiles at Tatara in an attempt to distract him. For the most part, the Ghoul was able to block them and the ones he failed to block did little damage.

Tatara rolled his eyes in disinterest. Surely she knew shooting flimsy projectiles at him wasn't going to work.

 **"I hope you didn't think that something like that wou-"**

The Ghoul trailed off mid sentence as he saw that Ruby was no longer before him. Tatara's eyes widened. _Where is she?_

Not a moment after he asked the question, Tatara felt pain in his stomach as one of Ruby's blade slashed straight through it. The slash was immediately followed by pain in one of his shins as Ruby kicked at it with her left leg, breaking the shin on impact.

With a shocked expression, Tatara dropped to one knee. The projectiles had just been a distraction for her to come in and strike at his legs. _I see her plan now. She wanted to cripple me so I wouldn't be able to walk, then run away before I could recover. She's realized that she can't win this fight, so she's trying to use her speed to escape before I can catch her._

Ruby then proceeded to kick Tatara in the right side of the face, sending him flying. Immediately, she ran towards the exit as fast as she could in an attempt to escape before Tatara recovered.

Not a millisecond before she reached the hall's doorway, however, Ruby heard a defeaning roar. Reaching up to cover her ears, the half Ghoul exclaimed, _What in the WORLD was that?!_

Her question was answered a second later as the entire front wall came crashing down.

"AGH!" Ruby exclaimed in pain, as a giant white hand hit her in the chest, sending her flying into the chamber's back wall for a second time.

Groaning in pain from the impact, Ruby sat up and put a hand behind her head. _I don't think I've ever been hit that hard in my life,_ she said.

Ruby stood up, bracing herself on her knees. Her head still spun with dizziness after being flung across the room.

Placing her hand on a nearby pillar, Ruby was eventually able to steady herself enough to look up. Unfortunately, however, the scene she saw in front of her only made her more dizzy and confused.

Before her was a behemoth of a creature that possessed a single gruesome eye, along with a huge smiling tongue and mouth. Its form was massive - at least 5 times the size of Shinohara, who was one of the burliest people Ruby knew. Four large spikes protruded from its shoulders and dozens of large spikes emerged from the creature's back in a manner that resembled Ruby's Kagune.

"What _is_ that thing?!" she asked aloud.

 **"Oh come on Ruby dear, don't tell me you don't recognize me?"**

Her eyes widened. There was no mistaking that tone of voice.

The monster before her was none other than _Eto_.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Ruby looked on in horror. _So this is the One Eyed Owl ..._

She always thought the rumors about the Owl were exaggerated, since a massive fifteen foot tall monster isn't exactly the most believable thing, but after seeing Eto's Kakuja first hand she had to admit they were quite accurate. The teen couldn't deny that the size and figure of her brethren's Owl form were terrifying.

What creeped her out even more, though, was the fact that the girl who controlled this beast was around her size.

Eto cackled, filling the hall with her laughter. **"Come now Ruby, you didn't actually think you could escape, did you? Even with your Kagune how do you plan to take us both on at the same time?"**

Grimacing, Ruby saw that Tatara had recovered from his injury and was now glaring at her in controlled anger.

Ruby flared her Kagune in an act of defiance, but deep down she was wavering. _As much as I don't want to admit it, Eto has a good point. How am I going to deal with them both?_

She banged a fist against the pillar in frustration. What could she possibly do against opponents this strong?

...

 _Wait a second!_

Ruby's eyes widened as an idea popped into her head. _The pillars! That's it! There's my key to escaping this battle alive._

Ruby smirked. She knew how she was going to escape the hideout.

Ignoring Eto's taunt, she darted for the exit as fast as she could.

Anticipating her move, Eto raised a hand and prepared to grab ahold of Ruby, but before she could do so Ruby swerved to the left.

 **"Come back here RUUBBYYY!"** Eto yelled as she clambered after her captive. Ruby continued at top speed until she reached one of the many pillars supporting the upper dome, then changed direction at the last second, causing Eto to lose balance and crash into the pillar, smashing it to smithereens.

 _That's one down!_

Scrambling to another pillar, this time Ruby jumped as high as she could and anchored herself near the middle of the pillar with one of the curved blades along her arms. Again, Eto chased after her and collided with the pillar in an attempt to crush Ruby, but not before Ruby jumped away and avoided her attack.

The second she made contact with the ground, however, Tatara's Kagune slammed into her face with alarming force, breaking her neck in several places and nearly beheading her.

 _That almost killed me,_ she said, bracing herself with a hand on the ground. The entire exchange was beginning to wear on her, and both her regeneration and Kagune were exhausting themselves. The longer the fight drew out, the less chance she had, which meant that she had to knock the pillars down quickly.

Turning to the side, Ruby saw Eto's massive form clambering after her. Gritting her teeth in exertion, she headed towards a third pillar and once again was able to out-maneuver Eto, causing her to crash into the pillar and tear it to shreds.

Again and again Eto chased Ruby around the large chamber, but she was no match for Ruby's speed. Soon, seven pillars were collapsed, but Ruby was beginning to run out of energy. Dodging the simultaneous attacks of Tatara and Eto was incredibly difficult and she was at her limits.

Ruby glanced back at her Kagune and saw that it was losing its glow and brilliance. _Come on, just a little longer!_

Eto screeched as she lost her balance and collided with yet another pillar. The dome above them was beginning to shake from a lack of support. Looking up, Ruby saw that it was especially weak at a pillar near the far side of the room, so she sprinted towards it and waited for Eto to come after her.

 **"Why are you running away from me RUBYYYYY?!"** Eto cried as she approached Ruby with a psychotic look on her face ... if you wanted to call it a face, that is.

When Eto was a few feet away from her target, she swiped at Ruby with her arm, which Ruby easily avoided. The half-Ghoul then ran up Eto's shoulder and before she knew it had jumped towards the other end of the hall, using the Kakuja's back as a spring board.

 **"NOOOO!"** Eto cried in dismay, before crashing into yet another pillar.

Looking up, Ruby allowed herself a small smile as she saw that the domed ceiling had started to crack and wobble. It was only a matter of time before the entire structure collapsed.

 _I did it!_ she exclaimed to herself. _Now I just need to get to the exit before the ceiling falls and I'm home fr-_

 _SQUELCH!_

Ruby looked down in horror and saw that her legs were no longer attached to her body.

Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Tatara's red Kagune and saw a pleased expression on the Ghoul's face. While she was celebrating her victory, the Ghoul had used his Kagune to sever her in half.

Ruby cried out in pain and blood spurted from both halves of her body. Thin red tentacles reached out from her upper half as it tried to pull itself back to her lower half and reattach itself, but unfortunately the attempt was only half successful, leaving her upper and lower halves partially detached. She grit her teeth as her body fell to the floor, face first.

 **"I finally got you,"** Tatara said victoriously. Extending his Kagune, he wrapped it around Ruby's half attached body and held her suspended from the ground. She howled as the pain in her midsection intensified.

Tatara unwrapped the tip of his Kagune and pointed it menacingly at Ruby. Her eyes widened in dismay.

 **"This is the end, Ruby Rose. Goodbye."**

Ruby braced herself as Tatara shot his Kagune at her face, but before he could skewer her the entire room began shaking, throwing Tatara off balance. Tatara's eyes widened as he looked up and saw that the entire ceiling was collapsing on itself. Realization dawned upon him.

 _So that was her goal! All this time she was just trying to get Eto to knock down the pillars supporting the ceiling, so she could bring it down and then escape amidst the debis and confusion._

Regaining his balance, Tatara tried again to stab Ruby through the eye, but his attack was cut short as a massive piece of rubble from the ceiling above began falling towards him.

Immediately, he released Ruby and jumped out of the way of the massive piece of concrete. Or rather, he tried to, because while he was able to avoid any bodily harm, the Ghoul's Kagune was not so lucky and it was struck head on by a piece of debris. With a _crash_ sound, Tatara's Kagune was smashed and pinned to the ground.

For once, Ruby actually thought she saw the Aogiri executive grimace in pain.

As more debris fell, the half Ghoul tried to force herself to her feet, but was in far too much pain to do so, or to move at all for that matter.

She stared at the ceiling with wide eyes, then back at her two opponents. Eto was in the corner of the room being pelted by debris, while Tatara was stuck by virtue of his Kagune being pinned under a massive piece of concrete.

 _I'm ... not gonna make it,_ she said to herself. _NONE of us are gonna make it! The ceiling's just gonna collapse on us all!_

With a massive roar, the rift in the ceiling expanded and more debris fell. Two massive pieces fell on either side of Ruby, nearly crushing her.

With a sigh, Ruby closed her eyes and resigned herself to her fate. There was no way she would be able to escape in her current condition.

As the debris crushed her, she had only one thing on her mind:

 _I'm sorry, Yang._

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Weiss groaned in exhaustion as she collapsed face-first onto her bed. Her body ached in numerous places from injuries she sustained while raiding Aogiri hideouts and it was starting to take a toll on her.

After she and the rest of her squad captured Torchwick, the A-class ghoul had been taken from right under their noses by the Clowns, essentially putting them back to square one. Since then, they had raided many more hideouts, but nobody else knew _anything_ about Ruby. Weiss was starting to lose hope that her friend would ever be found.

It also didn't help that the CCG had given the heiress a temporary room at CCG headquarters and insisted she move out of Beacon. True, her new room was nice and far more spacey than their old dorm, but Weiss was starting to get lonely without her teammates.

Tears filled the rookie investigator's eyes. _Please ..._ _please come back to us_ _Ruby!_

Weiss had to admit that it was all very strange. Just half a year ago she found her younger teammate unbearable, but now she couldn't imagine life without her.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Ruby awoke to complete darkness.

 _Am I ... in hell?_ she asked herself. _Hmmm ... Hell's a lot more boring than I thought._

After feeling around with her arms, however, Ruby quickly realized that the reason why things were pitch black was because she was covered in rubble, not because she was in hell. The half Ghoul resisted the urge to facepalm.

With a pained heave - as her midsection was still wounded - she lifted the debris off herself and took a look around the room. Everything had been crushed, leaving Eto and Tatara to uncertain fates.

 _How am I alive?_ she asked herself.

Looking down, Ruby immediately found the answer.

For whatever reason, she was covered in a strange black and red ... _armor_ of sorts. Reaching out to feel the material, it seemed to have a similar consistency to the chains that were binding her earlier, but glowed with the same energy as her Kagune.

Touching a hand to her face, Ruby realized that it wasn't just her arms, torso, and legs, but literally her _entire_ body - face and neck included. _What in the_ _world?_ she asked herself. _When did I develop an ability like this?_

Lifting herself to her feat, Ruby released the energy of her Kagune and the armor disappeared. Almost immediately, however, she doubled over as her midsection began burning with intense pain.

 _ARGH!_ she yelled, gritting her teeth as she waited for the pain to dissipate. Once it had, the half Ghoul lifted herself back up and yanked her blouse a few inches from her chest, looking down to examine the injury she had sustained.

Luckily, all damage to the outside of her body was healed, but Ruby suspected that a few of her internal organs were still ruptured.

 _I must have exhausted my regenerative powers, because for whatever reason this wound doesn't seem to be fully regenerating. I guess I'll just have to deal with it for now._

Nonetheless, Ruby allowed herself a small smile as she beheld the destroyed hall before her. Finally, after weeks of captivity, she was _free_.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

"You sure you're okay?" came the voice of a tall man with long, silver hair.

"I'm fine, Renjii," Yoshimura said in response. "Sorry I called you on such late notice. I just wanted to be safe with a matter like this."

His companion nodded. Yomo knew Yoshimura well enough to tell that he was lying about the "being fine" part, but decided not to take it up with the old man. He preferred not to be confrontational when it came to minor matters.

Earlier that day, Yoshimura had called Yomo from out of nowhere and told the stoic silver-haired Ghoul that he needed help with something. Which was automatically a red flag, since Yoshimura was one of the strongest Ghouls Yomo knew, so if he needed help with something then it was probably a big deal.

When Yomo had asked what the problem was, the Anteiku manager responded with only one letter, **"V."** Yomo considered prying further, but decided not to. He owed the manager a debt of gratitude, so the least he could do him was a small favor like this.

Looking over at his elder, Yomo saw that Yoshimura had a pensive look on his face as he stared out into the cloudy Vale sky.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

With a grunt, Tatara heaved the massive piece of concrete off of his chest. The Ghoul got up and grit his teeth. _If that girl is still alive, the next time I see her she's dead meat,_ he said.

Their battle with Ruby had, in short, been a complete disaster. True, the girl had potential, but even still an opponent of that level should not have been so difficult to subdue. Ultimately, the reason for her victory had been her speed - which neither Tatara nor Eto in her Kakuja form could keep up with - and her cleverness in tricking Eto into knocking down the hall's pillars and destroying its foundation. However, there was one thing Tatara still didn't understand.

"Eto," he said, walking up to his fellow Ghoul. As expected, she had already freed herself and was sitting atop a piece of rubble, swinging her legs back and forth.

She turned her head in acknowledgement.

"Why did you not revert to your base form? Your speed would have exceeded hers outside of Kakuja form and it would have been easy to capture her," he said. While Eto's Kakuja was a massive lumbering behemoth, as an Ukaku type she possessed incredible speed in her base form. Which was why he didn't understand her choice to use her Kakuja form against Ruby. Eto was a lot of things, but stupid definitely wasn't one of them.

Eto was silent for a few moments as she hummed to herself softly.

Then, she shrugged her shoulders, and replied,

"I guess ... I just thought it would be _fun_ to see what happens to her out in the real world."

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Ruby dropped to the ground, breathing heavily. By now it was nighttime and she was far away from the Aogiri hideout, but her strength was fading. The injury ended up being far worse than she initially thought and she was starting to think she would die if she didn't get medical attention soon.

Forcing herself up, the teen continued on. _I NEED_ _to find someone who can help me and then get back to Yang and the others as soon as possible. Come on Ruby, you've done all the hard work, now you just need to bring it home!_

With a hand on her stomach, she continued lumbering away from the Aogiri base, biting her lip to deal with the pain.

 **"You look like you could use some help there, young lady."**

Turning her head, Ruby saw an incredibly ... _strange_ man off in the distance. He was of middling height and wore attire that consisted of a black top hat, a black duster coat, and dark gloves that concealed his hands. His lips were a strange pure black color - the first time Ruby had ever seen lips like that in her young life. Beside him a similarly dressed man walked, save that he had no top hat. The second man appeared to be the other's direct subordinate, or at very least held less authority than he did.

Ruby's eyes narrowed. Something about them gave her a bad vibe.

The man continued walking until he was only a few paces in front of her. "What do you want?" she asked.

The man held out his hands in mock dismay. **"I only wanted to help you out! You look like you could use some** **assist-"**

 **"What do you want?"** she repeated, activating her Kakugan.

The man smirked, as if he was already expecting her to be a one-eye. His lack of surprise confirmed Ruby's suspicions about him, since nobody outside of Aogiri Tree was supposed know about Kanou's experiments. And beyond that, it seemed as though he had deliberately searched her out, meaning the man had some sort of vested interest in her.

 **"I see. Straight and to the point then, are we?"**

Holding out his arms once again, the man continued, **"You see, I represent the interests of a certain _organization_. An organization known as ..."**

 **"V."**

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "What is V?" she asked, though she had a feeling she didn't want to know.

 **"I'm happy you asked! It's quite simple, actually; my organization is dedicated to maintaining the _balance_ of this world. We exist to-"**

"Not interested," Ruby interrupted, turning around and walking away. The way he said the word "balance" rubbed Ruby the wrong way, and she suspected that his notion of balance was far different from hers. But also, though she didn't want to admit it, she was _afraid_ of the man.

He grinned at her reaction. **"Leaving so soon?** **Are you sure you don't want to stay and chat for a little longer?"**

She continued walking, but his grin only widened as she did so. **"After all ..."**

 **"Don't you want to hear how your _mother_ died?"**

 **.**

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* * *

 **Author's Note:**

DUN DUN DUN! Lots of stuff happening this chapter! First off, we obviously have Ruby's Kagune and her escape, as well as all that strange _armor_ business. I wonder what it all means?

Then, we have all the Yomo and Yoshimura business, and to end things off some dude from V appears and mentions Ruby's mother?! What the hell is going on Roshank?! All in due time, my friends. I will say, however, that all this V business at the end is connected to that scene where Dr. Kanou found something "weird" inside of Ruby. All I'm gonna say for now.

Also, I want to quickly respond to a review of the previous chapter from **FineChyna** (which btw, thank you SO much for the feedback :) ) asking if Ruby's Kagune would be the same as Eto's. Well, as I'm sure you can see, it's quite a bit different. You guys are probably wondering how that could be possible, so I'm gonna give you a small hint. It has to do with what Kanou found inside of Ruby when performing surgery on her. That's all for now :P.

Anyways, thanks for reading and have an awesome day! :D


	17. Chapter 15: Reunion

**Mandatory Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the series depicted in this story, nor any of the characters, etc. In fact, I own nothing xD.

 **Time Break: ... ... ... ... ... ...  
Bold text: GHOUL VOICE  
** _Italics: INNER THOUGHTS, or when a character is speaking to themselves; also used occasionally for EMPHASIS when characters are speaking_

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 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...** **... ... ... ... ... ...**

 **Chapter 15: Reunion**

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...** **... ... ... ... ... ...**

 **"Don't you want to hear how your mother died?"**

Ruby stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around and asked with wide eyes,

"W-what did you say?"

 **"You heard me. I asked if you wanted to hear how your mother died."**

Ruby was incredibly confused. _What would some random Ghoul know, or care for that matter, about my mom's death?_

She clenched her fists. "Tell me what you know about her **now.** "

The black-clad man laughed and held up a finger. **"You really aren't very good at negotiating, you know. Information is a two-way trade. If I do something for you, then you have to do something for me."**

Ruby took a deep breath. Whatever he wanted, it was worth it to find out more about her mother. "What do you want?"

The man grinned with barely contained glee. He had Ruby in the palm of his hand now and both of them knew it.

 **"What I want is very simple! All I need you to do is-"**

 **"Kaiko!"** a voice said, interrupting him. Kaiko's eyes narrowed as he heard footsteps approaching from off in the distance.

Both of them turned to the voice's source and saw two men walking towards them - an old man with swept back hair and a middle aged man with long silver hair.

Ruby gasped the instant she saw them. Walking towards her was the old man and manager from Anteiku ... _Yoshimura_.

Immediately, Ruby reached up to cover her right eye and conceal her Kakugan, but stopped midway as Yoshimura opened his eyes, revealing Kakugan of his own.

 _W-WHAT?! He's a Ghoul?!_ Ruby exclaimed to herself.

 **"Kuzen,"** Kaiko said in response. **"What the hell are you doing here?"**

Yoshimura ignored his question and continued to walk in silence, causing Kaiko to scowl.

The two glared at each other as Yoshimura and his partner approached. Ruby could feel the tension between them from meters away.

 **"Renji,"** Yoshimura said, finally stopping a few paces in front of Kaiko. **"Take Ruby back to Anteiku and treat her injuries. Mr. Kaiko and I need to ... _talk_ ... for a brief moment."**

Yomo nodded. Heading over to Ruby, he offered her a hand in support.

Ruby scowled. "No! There's no way I'm leaving!" she said, glaring at Kaiko in anger. "I won't pass up an opportunity to learn what happened to my mother! I-"

Her sentence was rudely interrupted as Yomo chopped her in the back of the neck with his hand, knocking her out. The Ghoul reached out and caught her, then took the youth in his arms bridal style.

 **"I'll see you back at Anteiku,"** he said.

Yoshimura just nodded in response as he watched the two of them walk off.

Once they had, Kaiko glared at the coffee shop manager, visibly angered.

 **"How many times will you _betray_ us, Kuzen?"**

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Blake hummed to herself silently as she prepared yet another pot of coffee. With the manager gone and others busy, it was her job to close up shop for the day.

 _I hope he's doing alright,_ Blake said to herself. _It isn't like him to go off like this out of the blue. I wonder what's going on ..._

Despite her concern, Blake knew that Yoshimura could handle himself when it came to combat. She knew very little of the older Ghoul's past, but what she did know gave her confidence that he would return.

Unlike a certain someone else.

Tears welled up in Blake's eyes for what must have been the 20th time that day. _Don't think about it Blake. Just don't think about it._

But try as she might the raven-haired youth could not stop thinking about the loss of her teammate. After losing Ruby, Blake had realized just how much her friend meant to her. Ruby was literally the glue that held their team together - hell, perhaps all four of their _lives_ together - and now she was gone. Gone forever, never to retur-

Her train of thought was interrupted as a loud knock sounded at the front door. _He's back!_ Blake exclaimed.

She rushed over, pot of coffee still in hand, and opened the door. To her shock, however, it wasn't the manager.

In front of her stood the unmistakable figure of Renjii Yomo, but that wasn't what caught her attention. What caught her attention was the person Yomo was carrying in his arms.

It was Ruby.

Ruby, her teammate whom she had thought was dead and gone, had _finally_ come back to her.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

CRASH!

Coffee spilled everywhere as Blake dropped the pot in her hands. Tears of happiness filled her eyes.

 _R-r-r ... Ruby?!_

She blinked, half expecting the sight to disappear and to find herself daydreaming, but there was no mistaking the figure before her. Ruby was _alive_.

Her teammate stared grumpily at the man who was holding her. "How many times do I have to tell that I can walk perfectly fine on my _own_! Put me down already!"

For second it looked as though Yomo would ignore her, but after a few moments he relented and put her down.

Ruby rolled her eyes. _What the heck is that guy's problem?! Is he deaf or some-_

Her train of thought was interrupted as she found herself caught in a bone crushing embrace.

"Ruby?!" Blake said through her her tears. She was crying tears of happiness.

A shocked expression crossed Ruby's face. She had never, not once seen her teammate cry before. Blake had always been the stoic one of their group, so seeing her cry even now was a surprise.

Tears filled Ruby's eyes as well as she returned her teammate's hug. Soon she too was bawling her eyes out, babbling incoherently about how much she had missed her raven haired teammate.

"I-I ... I miffed vyou Vlake!" Ruby yelled. She began even sobbing louder.

A sense of profound happiness came over Ruby as she held her teammate tighter. She was home. Finally, after all the torture, imprisonment, and hell she went through ... she was _home_. It was an incredible feeling.

The two girls' moment was suddenly cut short, however, as Yomo reached in and pulled the two apart. He then grabbed Ruby by the collar and dragged her upstairs.

Blake looked at the two with a puzzled expression. Normally only Anteiku workers and Ghouls refugees were allowed upstairs, so what reason could Yomo have for taking her teammate to the second floor? She wiped her eyes and followed the two.

Yomo opened a door and dragged Ruby - who was struggling and yelling at the older Ghoul - inside a room with a couch and small cot in the corner. Wordlessly, he pointed to the cot.

Ruby turned her head. "How many times to I have to tell you, _I'm fine!_ I don't need to lie down or any-"

 **"Now,"** the silver haired Ghoul said firmly. Blake shuddered. Yomo could be scary when he wanted to be.

With a grumble, Ruby walked over and lay down on the bed. Once she had, Yomo said, "I'll be back," and walked out, leaving the two girls to themselves.

As Blake looked at her teammate, she immediately began to realize that something was ... _different_. Appearance-wise Ruby looked exactly the same, albeit with slightly dirtier and ripped up clothes, but for whatever reason she looked _older._

It was almost as though during the weeks she spent in captivity, Ruby had aged a few years. She looked like a 15 year old, but the expression on her face and the way she carried herself made it feel like she was Blake's age now.

 _What happened to you, Ruby_ _?_ Blake asked in dismay.

The door behind her opened with a _creak_ as Yomo walked in ... and he was carrying two severed human _arms_.

Blake's eyes widened. _What is he DOING?! Ruby's going to find out-_

"Eat," he said, handing the arms to Ruby.

Blake's jaw literally hit the ground. _What is going ON?!_

Ruby eyed the arms distastefully. "I'd rather n-"

"You won't regenerate your wound unless you get some food," he said.

"I already said, I'll be f-"

Ruby stopped as she saw Yomo staring was at her menacingly. Stoic as always, to be sure, but menacingly nonetheless.

"Okay, geez!" she said, digging into the arm. _What the heck is this guy's problem?! If you're gonna help someone out you should at least be nice about it!_

The second Ruby took a bite out of the arm, Blake's eyes widened.

 _W-WHAT?! ... Ruby's a Ghoul?!_

Taking a closer look, however, Blake realized that wasn't entirely the case, as she seemed to have only one Kakugan.

 _It's just like Kaneki!_ she exclaimed. A horrified look came over her as she realized what must have happened. From what she understood of Kaneki's condition, he hadn't always been a one-eyed Ghoul. Which meant that Ruby must have ...

Blake shook her head. _No, all that's not important right now. I'll ask her about it later. The only thing that matters is Ruby's safe!_

Minutes later, Ruby finished eating and put down the remains of both arms with a sigh. She _hated_ the fact that she could only eat other humans, but had to admit that she felt a lot better after eating. The wound in her midsection was mostly healed at this point, which was good news.

"Where's the manager?" Blake asked.

"Right here," came Yoshimura's unmistakable voice as he walked through the door with his hands behind his back.

Ruby's eyes widened. She had to admit she was surprised at how quickly he had made it back. A part of her thought Kaiko would kill him, but she was happy to see that he was alive. There was one thing, however, that was still bothering her.

"Mr. Yoshimura," she asked. "What ... what happened to my mom?"

Yoshimura hesitated, as Blake looked on in confusion.

"Ruby, as much as I would like to tell you, for your own good I _cannot_."

"But-"

"Do not get involved with V," he said, interrupting her. "They are a dangerous organization. Trust me when I say ..."

"It will only lead to bad things."

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

 **"Disgusting."**

A young white haired man wiped blood off his mouth as he stared at the corpse before him. As much as he despised eating Ghouls, it was necessary to become stronger. And strength, in turn, was necessary for him to protect those important to him.

"Kaneki," a sonorous voice said from behind him.

"Tsukiyama," he said, turning to face the purple haired man.

"Are you done ... _interrogating_ him?"

Kaneki nodded. "He didn't know anything. Aogiri wouldn't give out important information to someone that dense. Moron knew he was outmatched but kept attacking me for whatever reason."

Tsukiyama nodded, then put his hands behind his back as the two set off to rendezvous with Banjou and the rest of their team.

For the past few months, Kaneki and the rest of his comrades had been interrogating Ghouls in various wards in order to gain more information on Dr. Kanou. Kaneki's goals when gathering Shuu, Banjou, and the others were twofold: first, find Dr. Kanou in order to learn more about his condition, and second, strike against Aogiri in order to weaken their forces.

Of course, Kaneki wasn't naive enough to think he could beat Aogiri on his own, but he _did_ believe that he was capable enough to at least undermine their stronghold in Vale, which was exactly what they had been doing since first coming together.

However, recently Kaneki had interrogated a Ghoul who claimed Kanou was now directly allied with Aogiri Tree, which if true complicated Kaneki's goals tenfold. It meant that in order to reach Kanou he would have to confront Aogiri head on, which was something he wasn't yet prepared to do.

Kaneki looked up at the night sky and clenched his fists. He wasn't sure why, but he had a foreboding feeling something big was happening. Whether that something was good or bad, he had absolutely no idea. He did, however, know one thing.

Vale would never be the same if its wrath were unleashed.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

Yang tapped her foot impatiently. _Where is she?_ the blonde asked herself.

An hour earlier Blake had called her and asked to meet up at Anteiku, claiming it was something urgent. When Yang tried to pry further, all Blake said was, "It's a surprise," and then hung up, leaving the blonde incredibly confused. Nonetheless, if Blake claimed it was urgent then it was probably something important, so she had made her way to the coffee shop almost immediately.

"Yang?" came a voice from behind her.

Yang turned around and saw none other than a half-asleep Weiss walking towards her. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Blake called me," the blonde answered, assuming she had done the same for her teammate. Yang sighed. "A better question is what are we _both_ doing here? It's literally the middle of the night."

Weiss yawned. "Did you try the door yet?" she asked. Yang nodded. "It's locked. I don't understand why Blake would call us out here randomly to her coffee shop only to-"

Her sentence was cut off abruptly as the door swung open, revealing Blake. She had an ecstatic look on her face. "Come in," she said.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "This had better be important Blake!" she said as she walked in. "You woke me up right in the middle of the-"

Weiss trailed off as she saw what, or rather _who_ was inside the cafe. Immediately, her eyes widened. Standing there, in the middle of the coffee shop's interior, was ...

Ruby.

Faster than the eye could see Weiss darted up to her teammate and pulled her into a hug. Tears flowed from her cheeks, and even Ruby - who thought her tears had dried up after the moment with Blake - felt a few well up in her own eyes. "Ruby! We missed you. Thank god you're okay."

Ruby smiled warmly. "I missed you too Weiss. It's so great to see you guys again!"

As Weiss embraced her teammate and conversed with Ruby, Yang just stood there, unable to believe the sight before her.

 _H-how?! How are you ALIVE RUBY?!_ she exclaimed. Truth be told, the blonde had all but given up hope on her sister until a few seconds ago, so seeing her sister safe and sound was a shock, to say the least.

The second Weiss released her friend, Ruby walked up to her sister.

"R ... Ruby?" Yang asked. Her legs were shaking. She was in such shock that she could barely stand. "You're ... alive?"

"Yeah," Ruby responded, smiling.

Then, Yang reached forward and pulled her sister into the tightest hug she had ever given her. She was crying too now.

"Don't ever ... don't _ever_ scare me like that again, Ruby," she said. Ruby would have responded, but she was currently unable to breathe from the pressure of her sister's embrace.

"Yang ... c-can't ... breathe ..."

"Do you have any ... _any_ idea how much I missed you?" she asked through her tears. "I ... I've never been so _lost_ in my life before Ruby. I thought you were dead. I thought you weren't coming back to us. But here you are, alive. Thank god. Thank god you're alright."

"I ... I m-missed you too Yang," Ruby barely breathed out. She was fairly certain that if her sister kept this up she would pass out.

"Please Ruby," Yang continued. "I know this is really selfish of me to ask, and I know that none of this was your fault, but please ... don't _ever_ leave us again!"

Ruby nodded, prompting Yang to finally stop choking her sister. "Don't worry Yang," she said.

"I'm not going anywhere."

As she spoke, the remaining members of team RWBY joined the two sisters in the first group hug they'd had in weeks.

Team RWBY was reunited.

 **... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... … ... ... … …**

And so, Ruby escaped from the clutches of Aogiri Tree and was finally able to return to her friends. In fact, just a few days after Yomo brought her back to Anteiku, Ruby was well enough both physically and mentally to start classes again and things began to take on a semblance of normalcy.

However, not everything was entirely the same. For one, because Weiss was now working for the CCG she had to permanently move out of team RWBY's dorm and take up quarters in CCG provided housing. Ironically, however, this only ended up bring the four girls closer together, as they began to realize how important Weiss was to them. And of course, Weiss had dinner with them every day and the four girls hung out all weekend no matter what the circumstances, meaning that while Weiss was no longer a part of team RWBY on paper, she was still their teammate in spirit.

Additionally, Weiss's combat skills began improving at an incredible rate and soon she was one of the strongest rank 3 officers in the CCG. She and Amon made an incredible team and apprehended some very powerful Ghouls out in the field. Many of the higher ups began to take notice of her - specifically a Special Class Investigator by the name of Kishou Arima.

Yang, on the other hand, essentially went about life the same as she had before the incident, but now she absolutely refused to ever let Ruby out of her sight. Which was problematic, as Yang still didn't know that Ruby was a half Ghoul, but nonetheless the two ended up growing even closer after the incident. She also began training herself in combat so that she could get stronger and better stand up to Ghouls like Tatara in the future.

Blake's life also remained mostly the same, except that now she had an incredibly close friend who knew what she truly was. Blake told Ruby about most of her past life, and Ruby shared with her the experiences she had endured while being imprisoned. Her story shocked Blake and the raven haired Ghoul felt incredibly sad for her friend, but was surprised with how well Ruby dealt with the whole situation. Most people would have broken under such torture, but Ruby clearly wasn't most people.

Jaune, unfortunately, did not fair quite as well. Upon learning of the deaths of their teammates, Jaune and Pyrrha both sunk into states of deep sadness. In fact, the deaths of Ren and Nora had affected everyone from teams RWBY and JNPR greatly and Ruby continued to partially blame herself for the incident. She desperately wanted to tell Jaune how his teammates had died and to apologize for their deaths, but couldn't do so without them finding out she was a half Ghoul.

However, one good thing that _did_ result from the incident is that Pyrrha and Jaune grew much closer to one another and rumors began spreading that they were in a relationship.

Finally, of course, there was Ruby. Unlike Blake and Yang, her life had been irrevocably changed - initially for the worst, she believed, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that wasn't necessarily the case. After the incident, Ruby made an incredible number of friends at Anteiku, including Yoshimura - to whom she would become especially close, Nishiki, Irimi, Koma, and many more. Yoshimura even offered her a job at Anteiku, but Ruby turned it down, claiming that she was busy enough with school.

Additionally, Ruby's teammates could see that Ruby's mentality had permanently changed - though also not necessarily for the worse. For one, the youngest member of team RWBY had mentally aged a few years after her experience in Aogiri. She looked like a 15 year old, but acted more like an 18 or 19 year old - especially when it came to more serious situations. In fact, Ruby's demeanor became so serious on the combat field that it was almost as if she were a different person.

And yet, at its very core her personality remained the same. When it came to having fun the young girl was still her normal cheery old self and still annoyed the absolute hell out of both Blake and Weiss, much to their dismay. In fact, off the battlefield she was even _more_ of a dork and a ditz than ever before, continuing her immature habits such as sleeping in class, playing games instead of doing homework, etc.

Ruby also began training with Yomo in order to improve her combat skills so that she could fight off powerful Ghouls such as Eto and Tatara more easily. Yomo was incredibly strong and Ruby was never able to beat him in any of their fights, but nonetheless she improved quite a bit during their training sessions.

And so, two months elapsed and during that time the girls of team RWBY were never happier. The only question was ...

How long would it last?

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 **Author's Note**

And that's pretty much gonna do it for the first arc folks! I have a lot of stuff to say but I'm gonna include a separate author's note with everything as well as an updated character data page. For now, here's what you need to know:

1) As I said before, I don't wanna change Ruby's personality too much, so for the most part she will be the same, just a little older. If you guys could give me some feedback on my portrayal of her (as well as the other characters) I'd appreciate it! :D

2) The stuff with Ruby's mom is INCREDIBLY important but won't come up again till way later. As in, not for another 100 chapters potentially, if this fanfic pans out the way I want it to.

3) After this will be two short interlude stories. Just to tease them a little, the first one involves Ruby's mask and the second involves Noro, Amon, and Weiss.

4) I've officially decided Hinami will no longer be in this story. Sorry to all Hinami fans :(. I'll talk more about why I made this decision after the next chapter, so as to avoid spoilers.

5) Starting from chapter 16, Kaneki is going to be a main character. Potentially the second most important character (after Ruby, of course).

Otherwise, thanks again for reading and I will see you all in the next chapter!


	18. First Arc Wrap Up & Important Update!

**First, an Important Scheduling Update:** Hey guys! I am seriously SO sorry for not posting recently. Unfortunately school just started back up again and things have been INSANELY busy. Between schoolwork, college tennis, other things, and trying to have a social life I've had literally negative time on my hands. Unfortunately the spring just isn't a good time for me in general because we're in season. So for now, the story will have to go on at a snail's pace. The truth is I may only be able to write a couple of chapters over the next 4 months or so, but once this semester ends expect a LOT, and I really do mean a lot, more content.

Also, unfortunately this isn't an actual chapter, but is instead an character data page. I apologize for doing this to you guys and i hope you can forgive me :). I am currently in the process of writing the next chapter, which is an interlude, and am about halfway through. I'll hopefully be done with it in around 10-15 days. Like I said my bad! I promise things will get better once summer hits xD

Oh and btw, my idea of an interlude is WAAAYYY different from most people's. The interludes will be just as IMPORTANT as normal chapters, if not more important. The only reason why I'm calling it an interlude is that it describes an important event that takes place during the two month timeskip between arcs 1 and 2. Just because it's an interlude doesn't mean it will be any less important, or that there won't be any character DEATHS! Just wanted to throw that out there xD

Crap and before I forget, unfortunately I have to go back and change something in this story. It's a very minor thing, but I assumed Eto was the One Eyed King, when in fact she is NOT. That's what I get for jumping to conclusions xD. Fortunately it doesn't really affect the plot in any way, so I'll make that change at some point soon.

And that's pretty much it for schedule related stuff, sp let's go ahead and get into the arc recap! Enjoy guys :D

 **Short Version:** This is the end of Arc 1! Thanks for reading! I have included some more helpful character data, so if you ever get confused on a character during the second arc it might help to refer back here. The second arc will focus on a lot more on KANEKI, and will also have a huge focus on conflict between the CCG and the Clowns.

 **Long Version:**

Alright folks, well that is pretty much the end of Arc 1! I hope you guys enjoyed it. If there's anything you think could have been better in the story, don't hesitate to let me know. For minor things I am definitely open to going back and changing them. Also it is very difficult to keep this story consistent with Tokyo Ghoul lore - especially CCG lore - just because there's SO much info out there on stuff like Ghoul rankings, squad members, etc, so if you find any inconsistencies please do not hesitate to let me know! :D

Also, just to give you guys an idea of the length of this story, I have 3 more arcs planned for part 1, and there will be a part 2 with around 4-5 arcs as well. So this is probably gonna end up being a pretty long story if I end up following through with my plans. No promises though, because you never know what will change xD.

Now, I wanna give a quick recap of the important things that happened in the first arc:

 **1) Ruby:** Ruby is now a one eyed Ghoul and her personality has undergone some minor changes after the torture. Just to give you an idea of her power level, she is around A+ or possibly even S, but the CCG does not yet know of her so she hasn't been assigned an official rank. Also, keep in mind the "anomaly" Dr. Kanou found while performing surgery on Ruby (see chapter 9) and everything pertaining to  Ruby's mother and V as these will be important later.

 **2) Weiss:** Weiss is now part of the CCG, of course, and is no longer a student at Beacon Academy (meaning she is also no longer living with Ruby, Yang, and Blake and is technically no longer a part of team RWBY).  Also, I would like to draw your guys' attention to the fact that somebody with the last name Schnee used to be a part of Qrow Squad, but is now dead(see character data below for more details). I'm sure you guys can probably guess who this is, and it will be especially important later on for Weiss' character development. If you're confused feel free to PM me questions and I will clarify here and in the story.

 **3) Yang:** I don't have much to say on Yang, just because I feel like she didn't change too much. Expect that to be different in the next arc, though.

 **4) Blake:** First off Blake is obviously a Ghoul, a part of Anteiku, and I also want to emphasize Blake's relationship to Kaneki. The two used to know each other when Kaneki worked at Anteiku, but after he was tortured by Jason Kaneki of course left, leaving Blake on her own. Also just a quick note, Touka is NOT in this story.

 **5) Jaune:** Jaune is now a member of the CCG and is no longer a part of JNPR. Also, Jaune and Pyrrha are OFFICIALLY a pairing. This will become more obvious in the next arc.

 **6) Kaneki:** He hasn't made an appearance yet, but plays a HUGE role in the rest of the series, starting from the from the first chapter of the next arc!

Anyways, that's pretty much all I wanted to say. Also, I HIGHLY recommend checking out the updated character data sheet below; I have made changes in the V section, the CCG section, and newly added Anteiku section. Hopefully this will help a lot in understanding the story. Obviously reading through the entire thing might be a bit much, but if you ever get confused on the seeming random appearance of a character in the story, come back here and this might help to clear up things.

Otherwise, thanks as always for the support and have an awesome day! :D

* * *

 **V Organization**

Legend has it that **V** is a secret society of ghouls, that operates in the shadows and strives to maintain a "balance". Outside of this, very little is known about **V**. In fact, it is uncertain if **V** even exists, or us just some made up story used to scare children at night.

Kuzen (aka Yoshimura) once worked as a "cleaner" for **V** (meaning he eliminated enemies to the organization. Additionally,  Summer Rose (Ruby's Mother) has some sort of relationship to **V** that is as of yet unknown.

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 **Aogiri Tree**

A terrorist organization of ghouls that has usurped the power in the 11th ward, and has started targeting the ghoul investigators in the ward. In recent years, combating the growing strength and influence of the organization has become one of the CCG's most pressing priorities.

Notable Members

 **One Eyed Owl/Eto:** Organization Founder. SSS. Somewhat psychotic.

 **Tatara:** Executive. Rating unknown, but predicted SS+. Unflappable demeanor, but sometimes loses his cool around Associate Special Class Qrow, for unknown reasons.

 **Noro** : Executive. Rating unknown, but predicted SS.

 **Miza, a.k.a. Triple Blades:** Executive. S.

 **Naki:** Executive. A.

 **Roman Torchwick:** Executive, A. Evidently unable to release his Kagune, and is not a good fighter. Captured by the clowns and his current status is unknown.

 **Nico:** Position Unknown. Male ghoul with feminine demeanor and taste for fashion. Does not appear to be incredibly powerful, but is good at getting information.

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 **Clowns/Pierrot**

The **Clowns** are a small group of Ghouls with mysterious goals and purpose. Though the clowns technically have no leader, two figures seem to have more authority than the rest of the members: **No-Face** and **Nightflare.** Both are incredibly powerful and mysterious Ghouls with legendary reputation in both the human and Ghoul world.

The organization's members primarily wear Clown-themed masks, ironically with the exception of **No-Face** and **Nightflare.** Supposedly, their intention is to "have the last laugh". They once resided in the 3rd ward, but their current base of operations is unknown.

At an unspecified time before the events of this story, the CCG attempted an extermination mission to eradicate the clowns in the 3rd ward. The investigation was nearly a disaster, even with Arima taking a part of it. Ultimately, the CCG was victorious, but the organization's most powerful members escaped. It is said that **No-Face,** in particular, left no traces of any enemies he fought, making it difficult for the CCG to assign a rating to him.

Notable Members

 **No-Face:** Tentative rating of SSS. Nobody has ever seen his Kagune in action and lived, making him extremely difficult to rate. Wears a mask with a beak-like protrusion and four holes above said protrusion. Has most authority in the organization.

 **Nightflare:** Tentative rating of SS+. Female. Often wears red clothing.

 **Roma Haito:** Cochlea Prison Escapee. Often seen alongside **No-Face.** Only clown whose face and true identity are known. SS.

 **Silver:** Position Unknown. Tentative S rating. Often seen with Nightflare. Known for his distinctive gray/silver hair and gray battlesuit.

 **Pearl:** Position Unknown. Tentative S rating. Also often seen alongside Nightflare. Noted for her half pink, half brown hair color.

 **Jade:** Position unknown. Tentative S rating. Tan skin and green hair.

 **Unknown Member:** Position Unknown. Attractive woman with long red hair. Often wears revealing clothing to distract enemies. Wears a Carnival Mask.

 **Unknown Member:** Position Unknown. Male, but has a very feminine taste for fashion. Often seen with above member with red hair.

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 **CCG**

The **Commission of Counter Ghoul** was founded in 1890 by Daikichi Washuu, and is a federal agency that serves as a criminal investigative body in cases connected to ghouls

Notable Squads:

 **Arima Squad:** Leader - Kishou Arima; Other Members - Koori Ui, Hairu Ihei, Take Hirako, two unnamed members. Strongest Squad in CCG.

 **Qrow Squad:** Leader - Qrow Branwen; Other Members - Amon Koutarou, Weiss Schnee, Jaune Arc.

Notable Members:

 **Tsuneyoshi Washuu:** CCG Chairman. Very old. Those who know him say the air around him is always "heavy." Dislikes nonsense and excuses.

 **Yoshitoki Washuu:** CCG Bureau Director. Unlike his Father, Tsuneyoshi, he is kind and easy to get along with. However, can be ruthless when it comes to his job.

 **Kishou Arima:** Special Class Investigator. Hailed as strongest in CCG history. Legend has it that he can subdue even SSS Ghouls with ease.

 **Yukinori Shinohara:** Special Class Investigator. Mentor of Weiss Schnee, Jaune Arc, and Suzuya Juuzou.

 **Itsuke Marude:** Special Class Investigator; Division II Manager.

 **Qrow Branwen:** Associate Special Class Investigator. Leader of Qrow Squad. Often Drunk. Famous for exploits in Atlas where he killed hundreds of Ghouls.

 **Matsuri Washuu:** Associate Special Class Investigator. Rumor has it that he does not have a good relationship with his father, Yoshitoki Washuu.

 **Koori Ui:** Associate Special Class Investigator. Vice Captain of Arima Squad.

 **Take Hirako:** First Class Investigator. Member of Arima Squad.

 **Tashi Fura:** First Class Investigator. Good friend of Kishou Arima. Very capable.

 **Kureo Mado:** DECEASED. First Class Investigator before death. Former member of Qrow Squad. Constantly refused promotions to Associate Special Class. Was greatly respected and trusted by Qrow.

 **Hairu Ihei:** Rank 1 Investigator. Deputy Leader of Arima Squad.

 **-ERROR- Schnee:** DECEASED. Rank 1 Investigator before death. Former member of Qrow Squad.

 **Amon Koutarou:** First Class Investigator. Partner of Weiss Schnee. Former partner of Kureo Mado. Member of Qrow Squad.

 **Suzuya Juuzou:** Rank 2 Investigator. Partner of Yukinori Shinohara. Rarely speaks and has a somewhat strange demeanor. Respects and is close to Shinohara.

 **Weiss Schnee:** Rank 2 Investigator. Partnered with Amon Koutarou. Has a mild obsession with Quinques. Member of Qrow Squad. Has been garnering attention in the CCG as of late for her exploits.

 **Jaune Arc:** Rank 3 Investigator. Partnered with Qrow Branwen. Member of Qrow Squad. Qrow often drunkenly berates him for not "meeting expectations."

 **Ozpin:** FORMER Special Class Investigator. Hailed as the strongest Ghoul Investigator in recent history, after Arima. Currently retired and the headmaster of Beacon Academy.

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 **Anteiku**

 **Kuzen/Yoshimura** : Manager of Coffee Shop. Known for his very warm personality. Is likely a very powerful Ghoul.

 **Blake Belladonna** Coffee Shop worker. Strong Ghoul for her age. One of the best friends of Ruby Rose. Likes reading books.

 **Renjii Yomo:** No longer works for the coffee shop, but still often associated with the Ghouls of Anteiku. Incredibly powerful Ghoul.

 **Enji Koma:** Waiter at Anteiku. Powerful Ghoul formerly known as the "Devil Ape."

 **Kaya Irimi:** Waitress at Anteiku. Powerful Ghoul formerly known as "Black Dog."

 **Nishio Nishiki:** Waiter at Anteiku. Though it may not seem like it, good friends with Blake.

 **Ruby Rose:** One Eyed Ghoul. Like Yomo, does not work at the coffee shop but is still often associated with the Ghouls of Anteiku. Between A+ and S power level.

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 **Kaneki's Kru (Group)**

 **Kaneki** **Ken** (leader)

 **Shuu Tsukiyama**

 **Kazuichi Banjou**

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 **Other**

 **Yang Xiao-Long:** Student attending Beacon Academy. Very close to her sister.


	19. UPDATE!

**IMPORTANT UPDATE**

Wow, it's been a while. Well first off I should probably apologize for not updating in so long. Here's the honest truth; I am way too busy with school, and between all the things I'm doing (which doesn't include this story atm), I'm getting very little sleep consistently, and my health is suffering. Taking Algorithms and DEs in the same semester was a stupid choice, in hindsight :(.

Anyways, the honest truth is that this story may have to go on hiatus for a while. Partly because of my health, but also because this story is going to be undergoing major REWRITES. The reason being that there are a few things really bugging me about the story. For one, I mistakenly assumed that Eto was the one eyed king, which is false. So the entire part of the story with Tatara torturing Ruby under Eto's orders makes no sense anymore, since we don't know if Tatara is Eto's direct subordinate (likely not at this point). There are also other things, like Weiss' Quinque being overpowered and weird. The whole ice crystals coming out of the ground idea wasn't the best, in hindsight. So I'll likely be changing that. Those are just a few examples, but there are more things like these two that have been bugging me and that I need to fix.

On the bright side though, I have most of the interlude written at this point. Or well, I'm actually going to have to split it up into two interludes, because it's getting ridiculously long. I have no idea how much longer it will take to write. Tbh, it may not come till summer, or it may end up coming next week. It all depends on how my health is.

Anyways, I decided to include a short snippet from one of the interludes below. This is NOT an entire chapter, it's just an unedited short part of the interlude. I'll leave it up to you to guess exactly what this is. I feel like once you get to the middle it becomes pretty obvious, but I'll leave a note at the end for clarification just in case.

I think that's pretty much all I wanted to say. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy! :D

* * *

"Wakey Wakey, Ruby!"

Ruby jolted upright as a familiar voice startled her from her slumber.

Her stomach twisted as she saw locks of green hair.

"E-Eto?" she asked.

Eto flashed a sadistic grin. She stepped aside, revealing a giant mass of dead bodies.

Ruby's eyes widened. There were hundreds, no, THOUSANDS of dead Ghouls and humans before her.

"I figured you were hungry, so I brought you a little snack," she said with a chuckle.

Ruby shook her head desperately. As she began to cry, blood poured from the needle wounds in her eyes.

"No," she said, turning her head and averting her eyes. "No, please!"

Reaching out with her hand, Eto grabbed Ruby's hair and forced her gaze to the pile of dead bodies.

"Why are you so afraid, Ruby dear? After all … you enjoyed eating them, right?"

Ruby looked at her in horror. She shook her head.

"No, I didn't!" she yelled. "No, I didn't! I didn't, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't!"

As she spoke, the pile of bodies shifted. A hand emerged from the grotesque mass.

Ruby's shivering intensified as a half eaten corpse pulled itself from the pile, and began crawling towards her. It was a little girl with brown hair and bite marks across her body.

"Why, Ruby?" the corpse asked. "Why did you eat me?"

Ruby shook her head. The tears continued to flow. "I-I didn't want to!"

"It's not my fault! I never wanted to! They forced me to eat you, it's their fault!"

 **"No,"** Eto said. The green haired Ghoul was no longer there, but Ruby could still hear her voice.

She braced herself against the wall behind her, still shaking. As she did, the pile of bodies shifted again, and more corpses crawled towards her, groaning and all asking the same question.

"Why, Ruby? Why did you eat me?"

 **"It's your fault, Ruby,"** Eto said.

A corpse grabbed Ruby's leg. She tried to move, tried to get away, but for whatever reason she couldn't. It was as if she were trapped in the room, held in place by some inexplicable pressure.

 **"If only you had been stronger, then perhaps you wouldn't have been captured in the first place."**

More corpses grabbed her, dragging her down. They clawed at her arms, face, and legs, all crying out,

"Why, Ruby? Why did you eat me?"

 **"All tragedy in this world is due to a lack of ability,"** Eto continued. **"In other words …"**

As she spoke, Ruby struggled against the grotesque bodies, but to no avail. They piled on top of her, weighing her down and leaving her unable to breathe or move.

 **"You were weak."**

* * *

And that does it folks! In case you guys were wondering, I've decided to turn this into a Zombie fanfiction! I know, it's great, right!

Okay in all seriousness though, that was a dream. It's supposed to be symbolic of some things going on in Ruby's mind right now. And yes, there are a lot of parallels to Kaneki - this is intentional.


End file.
